2012 Collection
by theevilmuffin
Summary: Collection of SasuSaku Month stories for 2012. July 18: Sasuke's sleep is disturbed by an unexpected visitor. Post-canon. July 19: A messenger-nin gets a mission that could make or break his career, or so he thinks. Post-canon. DOUBLE UPDATE!
1. July 1: 46 Days

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Angst  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura talk over the phone and try to avoid acknowledging the distance between them.  
Prompt: Conversation  
Rating: T

Author's Note: My story for July 2 will not be posted on FFnet as it contains mature content (of the sexy kind). If you want to read it, visit my profile to see how you can.

46 Days  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

"…How have you been?"

Sakura is oddly silent on the other end of the line, but Sasuke can hear her breathing.

"Alright, I guess," she finally responds. She is hesitant, trying not to crack under the weight of everything. Sasuke knows this because he knows her. "I'm good, even," she lies. "Work's been keeping me busy."

"That's good," Sasuke murmurs. He knows there is nothing he can say to soothe her frayed nerves. "How's the idiot?"

Sakura scoffs. "He's doing pretty well, all things considered. His orange abomination of a car is totaled, though. He drove it down an embankment and into a tree."

Sasuke snorts. "I take it he was unscathed?"

"The only thing that saved him was the same thing that got him in that mess in the first place," Sakura says angrily, trying to hide the worry that has been so prominent these last few months.

Sasuke frowns and knows that this is his fault. It's his fault that Naruto is drinking and driving. It's his fault that Sakura is worrying to the point of fracture.

"…Sasuke, promise me you'll talk to Naruto. He's being a reckless idiot and he won't listen to me. I'm scared that one day his luck is going to run dry and… and… I can't even think of what I would do if he…"

She stops talking. Sasuke hears her labored breathing. He knows she is already starting to break down. "I promise I'll talk to him."

She chokes on a sob and then sniffles. "Thank you…" she whispers.

There is a long pause as the conversation dies. Sasuke knows what he wants to say to her, but even now he is struggling to admit his emotions to himself – to her.

"I miss you," she says suddenly.

"I know," Sasuke manages to force out. _I miss you, too,_ he thinks, but he can't voice it out loud. The emotions inside overwhelm him. He leans on the payphone box on the wall.

"46 more days."

"Until what?" he asks, but he knows exactly what she is talking about. He just wants to hear her to say it, to hear her like she should be.

"Until I can finally see you again," she says, softly and with hope. Sasuke heart swells and he suddenly feels so stupid. He should be there with her, so he can always hear her voice sound this way, so he never has to hear her sound so broken. But he's always been a disappointment, hasn't he?

"Sakura, what I did-" he starts, but she cuts him off.

"I know. I know why because I know you. I should be angry or scared or hysterical or something, but I'm not. I'm not because I still love you, and that's all there is to it." Her voice is loud and shaking.

Sasuke can almost see every tremble that wracks her body, the tears that start to crawl down her cheeks.

"Sakura…" he says to try and calm her, but he can think of nothing to say.

There is a gruff cough behind him and his hand curls into a white-knuckled fist. He hates leaving her hanging like this – hates that he's always left her hanging. "I've got to go," he says.

He can hear her start to sob as he hangs up.

"Time's up," the uniformed guard behind him says. "You've got laundry duty this week, Uchiha."

The guard chews his gum obnoxiously, adjusts his belt – draws attention to the nightstick holstered there – and stares mockingly at Sasuke.

Sasuke ignores him and starts towards the laundry room.

"That was your girl back home, right?" the guard continues sarcastically. "I'm sure she'll be there, waiting for you when you get out in, what, 14 years? I have to wonder, though, what kind of man kills his own brother?"

Sasuke freezes and his jaw clenches painfully, to the point where it feels like his teeth will crack under the pressure. He flexes his hand and tightens it into a fist. Every muscle in his body is telling him to turn around smash his fist into this guard's obnoxious, disgusting face.

"_46 days left,"_ Sakura's voice whispers in his head.

46 days until he'll be allowed actual visitors. 46 days until he can actually see and touch Sakura again. He couldn't disappoint her, not like this. One wrong decision could easily turn those 46 days into 2 years, and he couldn't do that to her. He'd already done so much.

Forcing his jaw to relax, Sasuke starts to breathe deeply, hoping to calm the rest of his body.

"Problem, Uchiha?" the prison guard says. He walks up next to Sasuke and smiles viciously.

"No," Sasuke says. _Remember Sakura_, his mind says. "No problem at all."

He starts to walk again.

x-x-x-x

END


	2. July 3: A Day in the Life

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Humor  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Sasuke should've known better than to accept Naruto's advice in the matter. Sasuke should've quit while he was getting head… or, wait, how did that saying go again?  
Prompt: Rebel  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Language

Author's Note: My story for July 2 will not be posted on FFnet as it contains mature content (of the sexy kind). If you want to read it, visit my profile to see how you can.

A Day in the Life  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

The skies in Konoha were brilliant blue and fluffy, white clouds floated across the sky. A cool breeze drifted through the area, changing the deliriously hot sunshine into a deliciously warm afternoon.

All in all, Sasuke was having a really crappy day.

His stupid, fucking moronic friend had been staring at him for the last half an hour – was still staring at him.

Sasuke was hunched over the counter of Ichiraku Ramen. His elbows rested on the countertop and his fingers interlaced in front of his face. His hands covered his deep scowl, but not his venomous glare.

Naruto finally broke the silence. "Dude, why don't you have a girlfriend yet?"

Whatever Sasuke had been expecting, it definitely hadn't been that. In fact, he had been expecting something more along the lines of Naruto mocking his latest failed attempt to court Sakura. Not that Naruto knew about that. He didn't know about that, did he? "What. The fuck."

"I'm serious," Naruto defended. "I know you're a bastard and an asshole and overall have a terrible personality, but girls seem to think you're pretty! I mean, you should've at least gotten into Sakura's pants by now. Or, you know, you should've let her get into your pants. It works either way, and, hey, I don't judge. Guys don't have to be on top."

Sasuke was struggling between feeling insulted and feeling humiliated. The embarrassment managed to gain control for a brief moment as he wrangled his emotions into submission. He could feel the heat on the back of his neck and the tips of his ears and knew they were turning red. Worst of all, though, was Naruto's smug grin as he watched Sasuke's dignity slowly wash away.

Sasuke inhaled deeply. He tried to play it cool. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that you seem a little frustrated lately – well, all the time, actually – and I'm thinking that you need a little stress relief, am I right?" Naruto grinned and made lewd gestures with his hips.

"You're disgusting," Sasuke spat.

"C'mon, man!" Naruto pleaded. "I was just joking! …But seriously, you need a woman – well, actually you need Sakura-chan, because if you picked anyone else I'd be forced to rearrange your face… among other things."

Sasuke snorted, trying to ignore the heat on the back of his neck that intensified at the mention of Sakura. "As if you could even try," he muttered.

Naruto glared at him and continued speaking, "Like I said, you need a girl – Sakura-chan, specifically – and I'm here to help you. Prepare to be amazed. Class is now in session and I'm the professor."

Naruto jabbed his thumb to his chest and grinned proudly.

"What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto laughed. "You're going to listen to me for these two reasons. One: I know all about you're little game to try and woo Sakura, _and_ I know you're failing pretty badly on your own – you need my help. Two: I'm not the one who got a nosebleed in the middle of the street the other day."

Sasuke's face burned red as he tried to forget the memory of the first time (and it would be the _only_ time, he promised himself) Naruto had gotten him with the Oiroke no Jutsu. Sasuke sighed and let his head fall and hit the countertop. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

x-x-x-x

"Why am I doing this again?" Sasuke hissed into the hidden microphone he was wearing. The earbud crackled loudly in his ear and he winced as Naruto replied.

"_It's called blackmail. Buy a fucking thesaurus, asshole."_

"I think you mean dictionary."

"_Whatever, just shut up – here she comes!"_

The hedge Naruto was hiding behind rustled loudly, making his hiding position extremely obvious. This was going to end badly. Sasuke was severely tempted to just start murdering everyone to save face, but instead settled for rolling his eyes. (He'd leave the mass murder thing until later, when he actually might need it.)

"Sasuke!" Sakura greeted. She seemed surprised to see him, which wasn't unusual. Sasuke usually made himself scarce during the day, and the few times he did actually venture into town, he had never been seen waiting outside the front gates to the hospital, where Sakura worked. (Key words: been _seen_.)

"Is something wrong?" she asked. Her eyes began to scan his body for injuries, and while Sasuke knew that this was just Sakura in medic mode, it still made the back of his neck burn.

"_Say: not at all."_

"Hn. No," Sasuke grunted.

"_No! You idiot! I said, not at all! There's a huge difference between answering 'no' and answering 'not at all'."_

"Oh," Sakura seemed to relax a little bit. She peered up at him. "Then why are you here? Mission? It's not like you to just stand around for no reason."

"_No. No mission. You want to see her – you want to do an 'activity' with her – lunch or something."_

"I thought you could use some training," Sasuke said.

Sakura stared at him disbelievingly and even Naruto was momentarily stunned.

"…_Okay, now you're just insulting her. Quick, reword! Reword!"_

"We should spar," Sasuke quickly corrected, anxious from Naruto's hysteric instructions. "You've seemed stressed, lately. I thought maybe some sparring would help."

"_Good. Great. Now she thinks you actually pay attention to her feelings."_

Now Naruto was insulting him, Sasuke sulked inwardly. But Sakura just smiled shyly at his offer and said, "Thanks, Sasuke. I'll think about it."

She moved to walk away. _"Don't let her walk away!"_ Naruto screeched in his ear. _"Get her attention back! Say something – something rebellious. Girls love that crap."_

The words spewed out of Sasuke's mouth before he could stop himself. "I think the working class should uprise against the rich people."

Sasuke stared down at his mouth and scowled. Where the hell had that come from? Similarly, Sakura had stopped walking and was now staring at him like he'd grown three extra heads.

"_What the hell was that? I said rebellious! Rebellious! R-A-B-E-L-L-Y-U-S!"_

"Who the fuck taught you to spell?" Sasuke said. Then he realized Sakura was still staring at him, and she had no idea that Naruto was hiding behind the bush just ten feet to his left.

"Fuck it, I'm not doing this," Sasuke said, throwing his arms up in defeat. "This is fucking ridiculous. Also, Naruto's behind the hedge."

Naruto jumped up from behind the short hedge that lined the other side of the street. "Dude, what the hell!" he yelled.

Sasuke's entire body screamed in pain as Naruto's yell squealed through the transmitter in his ear. Sasuke quickly tore the earbud out and held his hand to his throbbing ear. There was a moment of silence as each member of Team 7 assessed the situation at hand.

"I'm leaving," Sasuke said. He quickly formed a seal with his hands and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke reappeared in his apartment and immediately collapsed face first into his couch. Inside, he felt what was left of his soul wither away in embarrassment.

Sakura was probably torturing Naruto for information by now, and Naruto was going to say whatever she wanted to hear because he was irrationally afraid of Sakura when she was angry. (Secretly, Sasuke couldn't blame him.) Naruto would probably even spill the beans on "the incident" that was being used as blackmail. Then Sakura would come over to "talk" and she'd try to be kind and fix the situation… but she would ultimately bring back all the feelings of humiliation Sasuke had suffered through over the past few hours.

His life was officially over.

x-x-x-x

A few hours later (after two bad TV dramas worth of sulking, a disappointingly burnt dinner, and a stressful shower that was supposed to have been relaxing) someone knocked on the door.

Sasuke groaned and buried his face in his hands. Here came the end. He knew it. Of all the ways he could've gone, too, he had never expected it would be so degrading.

The knock persisted.

Sasuke sighed. Maybe if he just denied any involvement and blamed everything on Naruto, maybe it would all just go away.

He answered the door by nearly ripping it off its hinges. "What?" he hissed, before he realized who was outside his door. He scowled and knew the tips of his ears were tinged red.

Sakura stared back up at him. "May I come in?" she asked. She didn't wait for his answer, just pushed past him and walked straight into his apartment.

"Yes, of course," Sasuke muttered sarcastically. He grimaced and closed the door. Sakura had seated herself on his couch. Her hands rested on her knees and she opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. She sniffed the air. "Why does it smell like burnt rice in here?"

"Why are you here?" Sasuke snapped, desperate to keep the conversation away from any embarrassing topics… well, other than the one he already knew was going to come up.

"I wanted to see how you're doing. This whole debacle with Naruto probably has you in a bit of a rut, doesn't it?" she said sympathetically.

Sasuke looked at his feet and sighed. "Whatever," he mumbled. He didn't want to admit that this whole situation had him nearly tearing his hair out in frustration.

"Naruto mentioned there was a bit of an… incident, between you two a few days ago?" Sakura questioned.

"Nothing happened," Sasuke lied quickly. "Naruto was just being an idiot."

"That's not what I heard," she muttered under her breath, so softly he almost didn't hear her.

He heard Sakura rise from the couch. "Anyway, I actually came here to take you up on the offer you made earlier. I'm sure we could both use the stress relief right now."

He looked up and saw Sakura approach him. She stopped less than three inches from him. Sasuke scowled at her lack of personal space. "Sakura-"

She quieted him with her fingers. "Shh…" she whispered. Sasuke swallowed at the feeling of her soft skin against his lips.

"Sakura, stop," Sasuke tried again, but his voice was weak and hoarse. "What are you doing?"

She pressed closer to him, moved her hand to his shoulder and tiptoed up so her lips were at his ear. Her chest brushed against him and Sasuke froze, unsure of what he should do. Her breath was hot in his ear and it made him tremble.

"Don't you see?" she whispered cheekily. "I'm following your suggestion. I'm uprising."

She had both hands on his shoulders, now. "I think I feel something else rising, too," she teased. She could feel the beginnings of his erection pressing against her stomach. "We should probably do something about that."

Sasuke could say nothing. For once in his life, he was completely, utterly oblivious of what to do.

So his inner consciousness started to argue.

"_Retreat! Retreat! Escape while you still can!"_ Aloof-Sasuke said.

"_Fuck that,"_ Pervert-Sasuke countered. _"You should play along. Besides, isn't this what you wanted to begin with?"_

"What _should_ we do?" Sasuke asked nervously – breathlessly.

Sakura's hands slid down his chest, his muscles contracting under her touch. "I can think of a few things, can't you?" she whispered suggestively. "Besides, wouldn't it be nice to finally get rid of all this _tension?_" Her hand snuck under his shirt and rubbed his smooth, firm abs. "Wouldn't you like… to finally find… release?" She slowly backed away as she spoke the last sentence, letting her hand drag softly down his stomach and over the tent in his jeans.

She bit her bottom lip seductively before pulling her hand away and backing away from him. Three steps away from him, she turned and headed towards his bedroom. Her hips were swaying sexily and they brought Sasuke's attention down to her amazing legs and tight, wonderful ass.

She paused at the door to his room, grinned at him, and disappeared out of his line of sight.

"_Do it! Get out of here, now!"_ Aloof-Sasuke screamed. _"Quick, while you have the chance!"_

"_Are you shitting me?"_ Perverted-Sasuke argued. _"The girl of your dreams just handed you sex on a fucking platter! Take it, dude. Otherwise, you're going to be left to your own devices and we all know how well that's worked for you."_

Sasuke just continued to stare blankly down his hall. He had no grasp on this situation whatsoever.

Still in a daze, Sasuke's eyes casually followed a small piece of fabric as it flew out of his room and landed in the hallway. Sasuke stared at the light blue object, wondering what it was. It took a few moments for him to realize it was Sakura's bra.

"_Operation is green lighted!"_ Pervert-Sasuke yelled at him. _"Go! Go! Go! Go!"_

Sasuke tore off his shirt and dashed towards the bedroom.

_("Great! Now look at what you've done," Aloof-Sasuke said._

"_Oh, shut up, man," Pervert-Sasuke responded. "What would you know? You haven't gotten laid in your entire life."_

"_What the hell is that supposed to mean? We're the same person, idiot, which means you haven't gotten laid, either!"_

"_At least I _want_ to get laid."_

"_Sasuke has goals, moron. Things he has to accomplish, and he won't accomplish those goals if we let him think with his dick!"_

_Pervert-Sasuke slapped his hand to his face. "You're telling me that you want Sasuke to achieve his goal of restoring the Uchiha clan _without_ having sex?"_

_Aloof-Sasuke paused and then frowned. "Ah, shit. I forgot about that part.")_

x-x-x-x

END


	3. July 4: Tease

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Sexy  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Sasuke's been doing things after training – things only Sakura notices.  
Prompt: Lick  
Rating: T

Author's Note: My story for July 2 will not be posted on FFnet as it contains mature content (of the sexy kind). If you want to read it, visit my profile to see how you can.

Tease  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Sasuke was torturing her on purpose. He just had to be. There was no other possible explanation for his actions. During the last few weeks, after Team 7 had finished up their training for the day, Sasuke would lounge in the shade, shirt tight to his chest and his neck exposed almost provocatively. Sometimes, his tongue would dart out of his mouth to wet his chapped lips.

And his lips would always part, ever-so-slightly, with each breath. Just the sight of him, sprawled out in the grass and looking so utterly confident and relaxed, sent heat swirling through Sakura's abdomen.

Sakura sat with her arms wrapped about her knees and watched intently as Sasuke brought one hand to rest on his chest. His thumb slowly stroked back and forth along his shirt. His other hand rested on his thigh, his fingers pointing towards his groin.

Sakura felt herself salivate at the sight and swallowed loudly. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and nibbled on her lower lip.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura whipped her head up to face Naruto, who was leaning over her with his hands braced on his knees. "You okay?" he asked. "You look a little red."

"It's nothing," Sakura lied. "Just a little flushed from training, you know?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura could see Sasuke shift. The fingers on his inner thigh began to tap almost rhythmically, drawing her attention.

"So, anyway, I was thinking that the Rookie 9 should all go down to the lake on the weekend. We could have a barbeque. And a campfire! What do you think?"

"Huh?" Sakura slowly drew her attention away from Sasuke and back to Naruto. "Yeah. Sure, Naruto. It sounds great." She smiled up at him and hoped she had given him the appropriate response to his question. It seemed to be the right answer, as he immediately beamed right back.

"Awesome! I'm going to go now and ask everyone if they can make it!" Naruto turned around and started a fast pace back towards Konoha. He waved at her over his shoulder. "See ya, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura waved at him and her eyes flickered back to Sasuke. In that one single moment, she caught him. She saw his gaze quickly dart away from her, saw his sexy smirk disappear, and saw his tongue dart out to wet his lips once more.

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip. That bastard was in for it, now.

x-x-x-x

END


	4. July 5: Goodbyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Romance  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: As the autumn harvest nears, Sasuke and Sakura say their goodbyes once more.  
Prompt: Harvest  
Rating: T

Author's Note: Based on the myth of Hades and Persephone.

Goodbyes  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

He gazes down at her resting form and admires her bare shoulders. His fingers trace a path down her shoulder blade, to her spine, and down to the dip of her lower back, where the edge of the blanket rests. He flattens his hand lets his palm rest against her warm skin.

She sighs and her eyes flutter open. She gazes at him from under her messy curtain of pink hair. Sasuke notes how her skin seems tighter, how her bones are more prominent now. She's getting weaker – the food here can't sustain her for much longer. Her time is coming once more.

Sasuke lifts his hand and brushes the bangs from her face. She smiles up at him and Sasuke is left in a very familiar state of astonishment. So much as changed between them since he first brought her here, that it's hard to believe that, right now, he really is the God-King of the Underworld, and that she is his consort – his Dread Queen.

It had been nothing more than his lust that had made him bring her here so many mortal years ago. Their love had grown slowly and unexpectedly after centuries of a hate-filled partnership. Though it pains him, he remembers the first time he realized that she was determined to truly to be his equal. It pains him because he tries not to think of the poor decisions he's made in the past… and that includes his one (and only) concubine that Sakura had literally stomped into the ground in a fit of jealous rage.

Now, Sasuke can hardly believe in a time where they have been anything less than lovers and equals.

He runs the back of his hand gently down her cheek. "How much longer?" he asks.

"Less than a week," she replies. "The summer was harsh on them this year, but the crops are coming up early."

Sasuke leans down and presses a kiss to her crown. "What do you want to do today?" he murmurs.

"Stay in bed?" she answers hopefully. She rolls on to her back and runs her hand up his arm, up his neck, and sinks her fingers into his thick black hair.

Sasuke smirks softly and looks down at her. He sees that small hint of sadness in her eyes. "It's today, isn't it?"

She looks away from him. "Yes, it is," she admits.

He sighs and kisses her forehead. "Okay, we can stay in bed. Guess I'll just have to judge twice as many souls tomorrow… alone."

She lets out a breathy laugh at his playfully disheartened tone. "Don't be so pouty," she teases. "It makes me think you aren't interested in a day full of bedroom romps with me."

Sasuke snorts and moves so he is lying next to her. He lifts his hand and rests in on the curve of her neck. His thumb dips into the hollow of her throat. "Well," he says roguishly. "What are you waiting for?"

x-x-x-x

Evening comes to Earth, and with it comes Sakura's departure from the Underworld. Her guardian stands next to her, prepared to guide her safely back to Earth so the mortals can celebrate their autumn harvest. The guardian nods politely to Sasuke, not bowing like many lesser gods would. While Sasuke would've been angered by such impudence long ago, he has since forged a strong respect for Sakura's guardian.

"Kakashi," Sasuke greets, and inclines his head back towards the masked hunter. "I want her back in one piece – preferably undamaged."

Kakashi lets out a bark of a laugh and places his hand on Sakura's thin arm.

Sakura reaches up with her emaciated fingers to caress Sasuke's jaw. She is even frailer now than she was this morning. "I'll see you soon," her hoarse voice whispers.

"Of course you will," he murmurs as he grasps her hand gently within his own. He kisses each of her fingertips affectionately. "Besides," he jokes. "What's the Underworld without its Dread Queen?"

She smiles and draws her hand back. Kakashi moves his hand to her shoulder and gently begins to guide her out of the Underworld. As she passes through the gates and into mortal territory, Sasuke can see the colour return to her skin and the fullness return to her body. In that instant, she stops being the Dread Queen and goes back to being the Maiden.

_/"Sometimes, I wish I had eaten the entire pomegranate," she whispers, during a moment of rest between lovemaking. "That way I would never have to leave."/_

But she's not meant to stay. As much as she is known as a feared ruler of the Underworld, she is also known for the life she gives back every year, during the autumn harvest – and for that, Sasuke is grateful.

He turns swiftly on his heel, his robes swishing around him, and heads back to his throne. There is already so much work to be done before she returns at the end of spring, and the autumn harvest has only just begun.

_/As they are dressing to prepare for her departure, she turns to him and says – half-teasing and half-serious, "You had better not smell of peppermint when I get back."/_

x-x-x-x

END


	5. July 6: Jungle Fever

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Humor  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: After a short mission to a remote village, Naruto becomes convinced that Sasuke has developed some strange, deadly virus.  
Prompt: Quarantine  
Rating: T

Author's Note: I'm not a doctor, just a writer with Wikipedia, so just go with it. :P

Jungle Fever  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Sakura looked up from the medical charts she was working on when Naruto dragged an irritable looking Sasuke into her office.

"What's up, guys?" she said. She decided to put her files down on the desk and give her full attention to her teammates… for now.

"Well, remember that mission Sasuke and I went on a few days ago?" Naruto asked. He twiddled his thumbs nervously.

Sasuke grunted and glared at the file cabinet in the corner.

Sakura was a little surprised at the question. "Of course I remember. You were delivering some medicine I'd made to a nearby… village." She trailed off and something seemed to click in her brain. She stared at Sasuke in silent horror. "You're sick?" She turned to Naruto. "And you brought him back here? That strain is highly contagious, Naruto, and it's deadly to anyone without a fully formed chakra network!"

"I'm not sick," Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura looked at Sasuke and did a quick examination with her eyes. His eyes were focused and he didn't seem to be in any pain. He did look a little flushed, though, and he kept shifting back from foot to foot as if he was very uncomfortable. "If you're not sick, then why are you here?" Sakura asked.

Naruto raised his hands in a placating manner. "Well, you see," he began. "Sasuke _is_ sick, just not with the disease from the village."

"Uh huh, and you can tell, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Sasuke _didn't_ contract his sickness from the village? Because if there is any chance that Sasuke brought the disease back to Konoha, they would have to quarantine the whole village. You realize that, don't you?"

"It's not from the village we visited," Sasuke cut in sharply. "There was enough left over medicine that I was able to make inoculations for both of us. There was no chance of either of us bringing the disease back."

"What he said," Naruto agreed.

"Then what's wrong?" Sakura growled. She was getting frustrated with the way they were avoiding the topic at hand. If something had happened to either of them that endangered their health, she needed to know about it now.

"Well, I'm not really sure how to explain this," Naruto laughed nervously.

"Why don't you start by telling her that _I'm not sick_," Sasuke hissed.

"Then why are you wasting my time?" Sakura hissed back. "If something has happened, I need to know, otherwise, you might as well leave and let me get back to helping people who actually are sick."

Sasuke scowled and shifted awkwardly. He slumped dejectedly and turned his head to stare at the file cabinet once more. "I… I fell in some poison ivy," he mumbled.

"Like hell you did!" Naruto yelled. "I've fallen in poison ivy dozens of times, and it does not look like those freakish marks you have!"

"Oh yeah, well, what else could it be?" Sasuke snarled.

"I don't know, jungle fever, swine flu. Hell, maybe it's the fucking bubonic plague! It sure as hell isn't poison ivy!"

"Both of you just shut up!" Sakura shouted. She was standing now with her hands pressed firmly on the top of the desk. "Sasuke, show me the marks."

Sasuke sighed and lifted the hem of his shirt, exposing a bright rash and many red dots spotted over his stomach and side.

"He has them everywhere," Naruto mumbled. "On his back, on his arms, on his legs."

Sakura stared blankly at Sasuke for a second as she diagnosed him. Suddenly, she let out an odd squawk-like laugh and clamped her hands over her mouth. She hunched over her desk, covering her head, and proceeded to dissolve in to a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke hissed. He didn't like being the butt of the joke, especially when he had no idea what the fuck the joke was and all he wanted to do was scratch the hell out of his entire body.

Sakura coughed, cleared her throat, and raised her head to look at Sasuke. "Sasuke," she said, her face straining to remain serious. "You have the chicken pox."

"You mean that deadly bird disease?" Naruto cried. He scrambled to get as far away from Sasuke as was possible in Sakura's tiny, enclosed office. "Shit, man, get the fuck away from me."

"No, Naruto, that's the avian flu you're thinking of," Sakura reprimanded lightly. "The chicken pox, while sometimes fatal, is generally harmless, just extremely uncomfortable. Though I have to wonder, don't you know what the chicken pox is, Naruto? Surely you had it when you were a child."

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously. "I've had diarrhea from expired milk, but I sure as hell have never looked like that."

"And you've had no symptoms? No fever, no headaches, no nausea, or anything?" Sakura asked.

"Who, me?" Naruto replied. "No, why would I?"

Sakura slumped back into her chair. "Chicken pox is contagious to anyone that hasn't had it," Sakura replied. "Most people get it when they are children, usually under the age of ten, and once their bodies fight back the initial infection, it remains dormant in the system. People who have already had it, therefore, already have the virus in their system and can't catch it again. The dormant virus can sometimes resurface, however, as something commonly known as shingles, but that's a little bit different."

"Aren't shingles the things on roofs?" Naruto muttered to himself.

Sakura sighed and rubbed at her temples. "Naruto, you can go, but let me know _immediately_ if you start getting any symptoms. Sasuke, stay here and I'll check you out."

Naruto snickered.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Naruto. And get out of here."

Naruto backed out of the office, gave a mock salute to Sakura and a lewd gesture to Sasuke, and shut the door behind him.

"So how do I treat it?" Sasuke asked immediately.

"I'll get you some topical cream to put on it. Apart from that, I recommend warm baths and acetaminophen for the fever and any aches or pains you might get." Sakura moved around her desk to where Sasuke was standing. "Any other symptoms? Headache, nausea, stomach cramps?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"You better be telling the truth," Sakura grumbled. "Chicken pox is more fatal in adults than it is in children."

"I'm not having any other symptoms," Sasuke assured her. "Just the fever. I _was_ a little nauseous the day before the marks showed up, but the nausea didn't come back after that."

Sakura nodded. "Take your shirt off?"

Sasuke lifted his shirt over his head and Sakura examined the marks close up. Naruto was right, they were all over. His arms were covered in them and now that she was so close, she could see the few that dotted his neck and the side of his face. Some of them looked very irritated and inflamed. "Have you been scratching?" she murmured.

Sasuke cracked his jaw uncomfortably. "More than I thought I would," he admitted.

"I'll write you a prescription for an antiviral medication then. It's not good if the scabs get infected."

Sasuke grunted.

"It's not very fun, is it?" Sakura remarked. "I still remember when I had chicken pox. I was six and terrified to death that I was going to miss my first day at the academy."

Sasuke huffed in amusement. That definitely sounded like Sakura. She always freaked out over the weirdest things, like if the geraniums were okay after the neighbour's cat puked all over them.

"Okay, hang on. I'll get some cream and the antiviral meds."

Sakura bustled out of her office and Sasuke remained. He stood awkwardly, freezing from the waist up, and wondering if he should put his shirk back on or not. If he put it back on before she wanted him to, she would get mad, and if he didn't put it back on when she wanted him to, she would also get mad. Sasuke decided that he should just leave his shirt off for now. It felt a little better not having the fabric of his shirt rubbing up against his irritated skin, and, _maybe_, Sakura would feel a little sorry for leaving him to freeze. Why was her office so cold? Probably the fever, he rationalized.

A minute passed and Sasuke busied himself by looking around Sakura's office. He scowled when he had to squint to read the labels on the file cabinet that was not more than five feet to his left. He still wasn't going to give in to Sakura's adamant suggestions to get glasses, though. His vision wasn't _that_ bad.

Really.

It wasn't.

The door to Sakura's office opened and Sasuke stiffened. It was only Sakura, though, so he quickly relaxed back into his usual broody and shirtless state.

Sakura handed him a small glass jar of cream and a small pill bottle with a week's work of antiviral medication. "The cream will help," she said comfortingly. "And the medication should ensure that you don't contract any other infections."

Sasuke nodded. "Anything else, or can I put my shirt back on?"

Sakura gasped in mortification. "I totally forgot. I'm so sorry!"

She hurriedly grabbed his shirt and handed it to him. He skillfully juggled the items in his hands and slipped his shirt back on. He smirked at her still flushed face. Her hands fiddled with the edge of her lab coat, though, and Sasuke realized that she was also nervous about something. "What?"

"…I can't believe you remembered how to make the inoculations," she admitted. "I taught you that a long time ago, and I didn't even think you had been listening."

"I _do_ listen to what you say, Sakura," Sasuke said. "So long as it's not annoying."

Sakura playfully slugged Sasuke in the arm, momentarily forgetting his irritated skin, and he flinched, letting out a pained hiss.

Sakura had the gall to look apologetic.

"Go home and put that cream on, Sasuke," she said firmly. "It will help. Take the antiviral and drink lots of water. And, I have to ask, did you actually fall in some poison ivy?"

Sasuke's deadly scowl and red-tipped ears were enough of an answer for Sakura to know that he had, in fact, fell in a poison ivy bush on top of contracting chicken pox.

Despite the strange hilarity of the situation, she felt even worse for him than before. It was humiliating enough for someone like Sasuke to take a tumble in poison ivy, but to then to be diagnosed with a disease he should've contracted years ago was probably the salt on the wounds.

"I'll draw a bath for you when I get home, okay?"

"Fine," he sighed dejectedly.

She placed a cautious hand on his cheek; she didn't want to irritate his skin any further. She brushed her thumb along his cheekbone and tiptoed up to kiss him.

"I'll see you when I get home," she whispered.

Sasuke nodded and gave her hip an affectionate squeeze. He moved past her and towards her office door.

"Also, try not to scare any small children on your way out, like you did last time," she teased.

He scowled and slammed the door behind him.

x-x-x-x

END


	6. July 7: Tradition

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Family  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Sasuke prepares to teach his son the Katon.  
Prompt: Teacher  
Rating: K

Tradition  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Sasuke paused in his work to swipe the sweat from his forehead. The late summer heat had been unbearable since he'd started his project. The summers in Konoha seemed to be getting warmer each year, or maybe it was just him.

He leaned back into the warm grass on the lakeside, allowed himself to relax for moment and evaluate his progress. The rotted remains of the old dock still needed to be removed from the shore. Despite the old dock's rickety and decrepit visage, it had taken him nearly three days to take the damn thing apart – a testament to the man who had built it. He could've used his sword and just cut the damn thing up, but it would've felt wrong.

It was a family tradition of sorts. Every time a new head of the Uchiha clan was appointed, the new clan head would tear down the dock on the lake and rebuild it anew, by hand. The new dock signified that a new generation of Uchiha would be passing on their knowledge to their children, and the effort put into the dock's construction was symbolic of the new clan head's dedication and willingness to provide for the clan.

Sasuke hadn't even remembered the tradition until Sakura had asked him when he was going to teach their eldest son the Katon. Satoshi was 7 and a little bit like his Uncle Naruto. A little bit, in this case, was still too much in Sasuke's opinion.

Satoshi had just started his second year of academy in the spring and Sasuke wanted the dock ready by the fall, so he could take Satoshi here and teach him the Katon over the winter, when the risk of fire was significantly minimal.

A few years after that, he could take the twins out and teach them, too. Emiko would probably bug him to teach her once he taught Satoshi (even though she was only 4) and something told him that Daisuke would prefer being taught by his mother when the time came. (Unfortunately Sakura had no inclination towards the fire element.)

The hard work made his muscles ache, but there was something cathartic about the process. Maybe it was the nostalgia that this very area gave him, or maybe it was the realization that, almost 40 years ago, his father had done the exact same thing. Tearing down his father's work had been hard, but therapeutic. It was a sign that the Uchiha clan was finally moving on – that _he_ was finally moving on.

Sasuke heard the grass rustle behind him and felt Sakura's hands on his shoulders, soothing the tense muscles.

"How's it going?" she whispered.

He let himself fall back, so his head was resting on her thigh. She let one of her hands slide up to massage his scalp.

"It's a lot more work than I thought," he grumbled. He was actually enjoying the change of pace, and she knew it, too.

He let himself relax as she worked on a particularly hard knot in his shoulder. "I can hardly believe it's been 23 years since my father taught me the Katon for the first time," he murmured. "I remember how disappointed he was when I couldn't perform it right away… And when I finally did manage a full Katon, I remember being so elated... because that was only time my father ever acknowledged me. My mother would tell me that he loved me, but I never really believed her."

Sakura lowered her head to place a kiss on his forehead. "You're a good father, Sasuke."

Sasuke let a shaky sigh escape him. Sakura had pinpointed the very source of his anxiety in a way only she could. He was grateful that she had not tried to step around it. "Sometimes I don't think I am," he whispered. "I've made a lot of mistakes."

"That's part of being a parent," she soothed.

She let her fingers run comfortingly through his hair. Sasuke shut his eyes and tried to shake off the anxieties that had been plaguing him since he'd found out that Sakura was pregnant with their first child. Being a father was scary, and he respected his own father a little bit more because of it. Fugaku was not a great man, by any means, but Sasuke hoped that his father had been a good man. His memories of his father were few and occupied by a child's unfulfilled longing for his father's recognition. Years from now, he did not want his children to remember him the same way – as a cold man whose love and respect needed to be earned by his own kin.

His inner unrest must have made itself visible on his face, because Sakura began to massage his scalp and smooth his tense and furrowed brow.

"Satoshi's been bragging about you in class," his wife shared. Even now, the way she so easily soothed his inner doubts amazed him.

"He has?" Sasuke asked with wonderment.

She chuckled and nodded. "Iruka says that Satoshi has been telling all the other kids about you. He says that his dad is building an entire _bridge_ just for him."

Sasuke found himself chuckling to the story. "It's not quite a bridge, though."

"To a young child, it probably does look like it could be one," Sakura responded. Right now, the new dock was nothing more than twelve large wooden posts dug into the ground. The two lines of posts ran down the lakeside and into the water, ending about a third of the way into the lake.

Sakura watched the small smile that tugged on Sasuke's lips and couldn't help but smile in return. This project had started a change in him that she never would have imagined, but was more than grateful for. Over the years he had grown more open and accepting, but now… now, he finally seemed to be reconciling with his past – reconciling with his father.

"It could be a bridge to something wondrous," she murmured.

Sasuke smirked. "Like a kickass new fire jutsu."

x-x-x-x

END


	7. July 8: Hatakesensei's Annual Race

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Friendship/Drama  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Class president Haruno Sakura bumbles her way through Hatake-sensei's annual competition of absurdity.  
Prompt: Dare  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Some blood, but nothing too graphic

Author's Note: High School AU

Hatake-sensei's Annual Journey Through the Forest of Death!  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

It had begun as a dare, years ago, for the graduating students in Hatake-sensei's class. Could you survive a night in the "forest of death?"

Since then it had transformed into an annual competition among the grad students in his homeroom class. Who could get through the forest and to the lakeside cabins the fastest? The event had become so infamous that there was even a rumour that the faculty had started a betting pool on it this year.

Inuzuka Kiba was favoured to win with 3:1 odds, while the (only slightly feared) class president, Haruno Sakura, sat at the bottom with 20:1 odds.

Obviously, Principle Tsunade had bet on her. This did not make Sakura feel any better about her chances of winning. She shuffled her feet, flashlight tight in hand, and let out a nervous puff of breath – it misted white in front of her. The rest of her classmates were lined up on either side of her, on the shoulder of the old highway that passed by the lake.

"Go!"

The torrent of sneakers slapping against the pavement did little to cover up the roars and boasts of excitement that came from the twenty-odd students as they rushed off into the forest.

Despite being striker on the senior girls' soccer team, Sakura was quickly passed by Kiba, Naruto, and Rock Lee (who had repeated the grade just to compete in the event a second time). Shikamaru was behind her, _walking,_ and he still had 7:1 odds.

Sakura grumbled and cleared a low bush as she entered the forest. The glare of flashlight beams suddenly being turned on made her pause a moment to turn her own on. On the road, it was clear and they had the headlights of Hatake-sensei's car to see. In the forest, they couldn't see the sky for the most part, and even if they could, it was a new moon, so there was no light filtering through the branches at all.

Anyone who lost their flashlight would be screwed.

Sakura tried to keep up with the boys ahead of her, knowing that they were on the right path, but they were far too fast and she was unaccustomed to the uneven terrain and heavy underbrush. She stumbled over a tree root and snagged her arm on a blackberry bush. The thick thorns dug into her flesh and she hissed, pulling her arm back instinctively and letting go of her flashlight.

It fell to the ground with a thud and the light flickered out.

Left in the dark, Sakura panicked. She crouched cautiously and fumbled for the flashlight, wary of getting too close to the blackberry bush once more. Her hands felt the smooth metal of her flashlight and she yanked it back to her.

She sighed in relief as she clicked the button and the flashlight instantly came back on.

She probably had 20:1 odds because half the school knew she was afraid of the dark.

She inspected the wound on her arm and was grateful that it was nothing serious. Nothing more than a deep scratch on the back of her forearm, really. Her sweater now had a hole in it, however.

She had to be careful from here on out. She wanted to win – she _desperately_ wanted to win – but she didn't want to put herself in a position where she could lose her flashlight and thus end up both terrified and humiliated.

_Deep breaths, Sakura,_ she thought. _Keep calm… and respawn. Ugh, I'm going to die a nerd._

The deeper Sakura got in the forest, the thicker the underbrush got and the more she realized that she was horribly equipped for this adventure. Her sweater, while thick enough to keep her warm, was not thick enough to stop any of the larger thorns from stabbing her. Her socks were starting to collect pine needles as they fell through the mesh webbing on the tops of her runners.

She wondered how Kiba or Naruto could possibly win, as they had gone tearing through the forest in nothing more than a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.

They _did_ have less hair on their heads to get caught on stray branches, though. Sakura painfully untangled the lock of hair that had been grabbed by a thin, but strong, branch. She hissed as she finally tugged it away, and stumbled over a jutting rock. She stumbled through a bush – no thorns on this one, luckily – and collided with something solid and warm.

Another person.

As they tumbled to the ground, her flashlight flew from her hand and landed just out of her arm's reach, illuminating her and the person she had fallen on.

Uchiha Sasuke's angry glare was the first thing she saw when she looked down to the person below her.

"You weigh a ton, Haruno," he said.

Sasuke had 5:1 odds… and he had dropped out of high school two years ago.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed. "And I am not fat!"

Flustered, she started to crawl over him to reach for the flashlight.

"Hey, watch the foot!" Sasuke warned.

Sakura's fingers were just short of grabbing the flashlight. She shifted again and tried to push herself forward with her feet. Sasuke let out a pained "fuck!" under her and, just as she was about to retrieve the flashlight, he brought his knees up and rolled, completely dismounting her. Her hand ended up sending the flashlight skittering away from her and, to Sakura's horror, it disappeared off the edge of a steep embankment.

There was a loud crack as the flashlight hit rock. She could hear it tumbling down and the final, dull thud it made when it finally hit bottom.

With no light and no visible way out of the forest, panic began to set in. Sakura could already feel her body shake and struggle to breathe.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called out. She reached blindly forward to where she thought he was and was thoroughly relieved when her hand actually found him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke hissed. His voice sounded pained.

"Are you hurt?" Sakura asked worriedly. She moved closer to him to try and subdue her rising hysteria.

Sasuke snorted. "You stepped on me."

"Oh… _oh!_ Sorry," Sakura mumbled quickly as she realized _exactly_ where she had stepped on him. She was far too panicked to feel apologetic for him, though. She slid closer to him, gaining comfort when her hands found his arms and her leg brushed up against his.

"What are you doing?"

"I lost the flashlight."

"Then go look for it. I'm kind of busy right now, no thanks to you," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura resisted when Sasuke tried to push her away. She grappled with him, frightened that she would be alone in the dark, and frustrated that he was holding his own against her with only one arm.

"I'm afraid of the dark!" she cried when he was about to succeed.

He stopped pushing her away and she quickly moved back towards him. "…Un-fucking-believable," he muttered. "Where's the flashlight?"

"It fell down a cliff."

Sasuke groaned in exasperation.

There were a few brief moments of silence, where Sakura struggled to calm herself by focusing on Sasuke's breathing and the heat resonating from his body.

Sasuke shifted beside her and his hand ghosted over her, found her arm and grabbed it. "Get up," he tugged.

She pushed herself up but kept one of her hands on his arm. His presence was the only thing that was keeping her from breaking down in a puddle of tears and hysteria right now. He sat up next to her and a metallic click echoed in her ears before the bright light of a flame suddenly washed over them. Sasuke had a mulish look on his face – he obviously wasn't pleased with the situation.

Sakura could only guess what her face looked like. Pale? Sweating? Slightly psychotic?

"Hold this," Sasuke said, handing her his Zippo. "And don't drop it."

Sakura accepted the metal lighter with shaking hands, slowly finding comfort in the light that the flame created. Sasuke stood and began to move away from her. "Hey! Where are you going?" she shouted.

"Calm down, I'm just getting something we can set on fire."

That did not sound helpful or particularly sane to Sakura. Had Sasuke become a pyromaniac? She couldn't remember him ever having any kind of disposition towards it in middle school.

Sasuke came back with some kind of large, leafy branch in hand. He took the lighter from her and moved towards the embankment. She surged to her feet and stumbled next to him. "Watch it," he hissed, as she bumped into his elbow.

He lit the leaves on the branch aflame, and Sakura had to back up as the fire quickly engulfed all of the leaves and gave off a searing heat.

Sasuke dropped the branch off the edge of the embankment. The flame flickered as the branch dropped, but roared back to life once it hit ground, illuminating the area around it. It looked a long way down to Sakura, and everything at the bottom of the cliff was rock.

"Now what?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke turned to her and smirked. "Ladies first."

"You have got to be joking," Sakura hissed. "It's like twenty feet down. I'll kill myself!"

"It's eleven feet down," Sasuke corrected. "And if you kill yourself, that's your fault. Now go."

Sakura scowled. "Why? Why not just find a way around it?"

Sasuke sighed, "Because, once we get down here, we'll be able to walk to the river, and follow that to the lake. It should take about an hour. Or, you could go around this ravine, and waste five hours on top of the hour you'll still need to follow the river. Your call, but I'm going this way, and I'm not giving you my lighter."

Sakura swallowed painfully. "Okay, I'll go."

The cliff was steep, but not straight down. Sakura could probably slide down and lessen the damage. She put one of her feet over the edge and let it rest on the rock face. It slipped when she tried to put pressure on it. She gulped. "Can't we go down at the same time?"

Sasuke covered his face with his hand. "And have your fat ass land on me? No thanks."

Sakura grumbled and took a deep breath. _C'mon, you've done plenty of scarier stuff than this,_ her mind encouraged. _It's just the dark that's got you bothered. If this was the middle of the day, you'd be down and fine in no time._

She took another deep breath and let herself go down the embankment. The descent was exhilarating and she hit ground heavily, stumbling under the force of the recoil.

She heard Sasuke come down behind her, heard his boots scrape against the rock face, heard a dull a thud and a loud curse.

She whirled on him. "What happened?"

He was sitting awkwardly, one leg stretched out before him. "I broke my kneecap."

Sakura snorted, "Well, unless your kneecap is in two pieces-"

"It's in three pieces," Sasuke said. "I think. It's hard to tell."

"Are you sure it's broken?" Sakura asked. "Because usually when people break stuff in their bodies, they start screaming."

"So having a high pain tolerance makes me a liar?" Sasuke hissed.

Sakura moved next to him, aware that the branch Sasuke had dropped down was going out. "Lighter," she mumbled.

He shoved the lighter at her and she took it, fiddling with it a moment before she figured out how it worked. She flicked it on and inspected Sasuke's leg. His blue jeans were slowly being stained red at the knee. She could see a small puncture wound in his knee through the hole in his jeans. "Fuck," she said.

Sasuke scowled and grunted, "I told you."

"You need to get back to the cabin."

"Yeah, well unless you're going to carry me, I'm not going anywhere."

Sakura swallowed and tried to think about how they were going to get out of this mishap. "Then what can we do?"

"It's been fairly dry weather the last couple weeks, so any driftwood from the river should make good firewood," Sasuke said.

"So what, we make a fire and wait out the night? Don't be stupid," Sakura reprimanded. "You said the river isn't very far away, right? I'll find the river and follow it to the cabins and get help. I can do it."

"No, you can't," Sasuke grunted. "Even if you have figured out that you need to go downstream to get to the lake, you probably haven't figured out that this is the river that drops off into the lake via a small waterfall. Without any light, you'd go tumbling twenty-feet straight down into a solid rock shelf."

"I'd have light," Sakura argued.

"From what? It would probably take you more than an hour for you to navigate the path and, by then, my lighter would be out of gas. And there's no way that you're going to make the journey without it, since you're pitifully afraid of the dark."

Feeling extremely frustrated and stupid, Sakura looked back down to Sasuke's leg. The pool of blood had spread a lot farther than she had expected. "Shit," she murmured. She stripped off her sweater.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he hissed.

"Saving your leg," she hissed back. She wrapped her sweater around his knee, and tied it tight into a makeshift bandage.

"You'll freeze like that," Sasuke scowled.

Sakura didn't doubt it, but they could make a fire. Besides, even in only a t-shirt, she still looked warmer than Sasuke, who was now shivering in his large jacket.

"Stay here, I'll get stuff for a fire."

Sasuke snorted.

Sakura took Sasuke's lighter with her and kept the image of the injured Sasuke in her mind, hoping that it would be enough to will away the suffocating fear that collapsed on her as she walked away from him to look for firewood.

When Sakura came back, Sasuke was gone. She was about to freak out when she saw a streak of blood on the ground. Still ready to break down, but now with a bit of hope left, she followed the blood trail and found him leaning against the cliff wall twelve feet away from where she had left him.

"I told you not to move!" she shrieked.

"What? You have a little panic attack?" Sasuke joked. Even under the dim light of the flame, he was starting to look pallid.

Sakura moved in front of him and let the wood tumble down. She started building the fire and Sasuke hissed at her.

"You have to build it farther away – unless you want to set us on fire, too."

After many attempts to build and light the fire (read: when Sasuke had nothing left to complain about), Sakura was almost at the end of her wits once more. When she managed to get the fire going, she allowed herself a moment of respite and moved back to Sasuke, who was looking worse with each passing minute.

She built up the fire slowly, following Sasuke's quiet instructions. When it was a good size, she settled against Sasuke's good side, and was very careful not to jar his leg. Sasuke unzipped his coat and tugged her towards him.

"You're freezing," Sasuke murmured. "You shouldn't have given up your sweater."

Sakura remained silent and just snuggled into Sasuke's chest. Sasuke let one of his eyebrows curve upwards in amusement.

"What?" Sakura mumbled.

"Now I'm not so sure if I want to share my coat with the girl that stalked me in middle school."

Sakura flushed with anger and embarrassment. "I did not stalk you," she denied vehemently. Quietly, she added, "Things were different back then."

"…Yeah, they were."

The jacket wasn't big enough to close around the both of them, so he just wrapped his arms around her to keep the heat in.

In all her years, Sakura could never have dreamed up this strange situation she now found herself in. She'd had a crush on Sasuke for as long as she could remember, though it had slowly faded since he'd dropped out two years ago. Now, though, in his embrace, Sakura suddenly felt young and shy and head over heels. It was a foil to the independent nature she'd been building for herself and it frustrated her to no end.

_If only he hadn't been here,_ she thought, and realized that he had never answered her question before.

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"I wanted to compete," Sasuke answered.

"Even though you dropped out two years ago?" Sakura asked incredulously. "As far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't even be allowed to compete."

"Look, it's important to me. So can you just drop it?"

Startled, Sakura heeded his request, though it only made her more interested in his motives. Why was it so important to him to be here after he dropped out?

"I… I used to be afraid of ghosts when I was a kid, okay?" Sasuke admitted.

"That's why this is important to you?" Sakura laughed. "To prove that you aren't afraid of ghosts?"

"I wouldn't laugh," Sasuke snarled. "Miss I'm-Afraid-of-the-Dark."

Sakura scowled and her fingers dug into his side.

Sasuke sighed, "My brother used to tease me about my fear. He said that if I didn't grow out of my fear by high school, he'd make me stay the night in the woods, alone."

"So, what, you're here to prove your brother wrong?" Sakura had heard of Uchiha Itachi – everyone in her school had heard of the genius student. Nearly every academic record in the high school belonged to him.

"…He died two years ago."

Sakura stiffened against Sasuke. Things started to click in place, though. His reason for competing was a way of remembering his brother, and now his sudden decision to drop out of school made a little more sense, too. "Oh, I- I didn't realize. Is that why..?"

"Yes."

His voice was cold and sharp. Sakura could tell that the past two years had not tempered his grief.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"That's because it's none of your business," he said indifferently.

"Of course," Sakura said. "I'm sorry, nonetheless. I wish I could say more, but I didn't know him."

"I don't think anyone did," Sasuke admitted hoarsely. "Not even me."

The silence that set in was heavy and sad. Sasuke let his head lean back against the rock wall and he shifted to find a comfortable position. His muscles remained tense, though. Silently, Sakura wished that things would go better for Sasuke – wished that things _had_ gone better for him. She hoped that, in the morning, things would be alright.

Resigned to a restless night, Sakura curled into Sasuke and hoped that her presence comforted him like his presence comforted her.

x-x-x-x

END


	8. July 9: Brave Faces

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Friendship/Angst  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Outside, the war is over but, inside Sakura's heart, the war has only just begun.  
Prompt: Bravado  
Rating: K  
Warnings: Possible spoilers

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing!

Brave Faces  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

When Naruto stumbles into the Konoha War Camp after a five day disappearance, bruised but smiling, everyone knows that the war is over. The cheers deafen Sakura as Naruto slams into her, crushing her into a bruising hug. Barely, just barely, she can hear him over the roars of celebration around them. "Is he okay?"

For once, she doesn't have to lie. "Yes," she says. _For now,_ she thinks.

Naruto releases her with 'whoop!' and charges into the crowd, ready to celebrate. He meets Kiba mid-air, chest to chest, and knocks the Inuzuka to the ground, howling with laughter. He wraps an unsuspecting Shino in a bear hug and lifts the man off his feet for a moment before setting him down to grab Hinata. He spins her round and round until her face is so red it looks like it's about to explode, and then he keeps spinning. Finally, he trips and tumbles to the ground with her, taking Shikamaru with them.

The rest of the Konoha 11 seem to collapse on the dog pile (mostly through the powerful, youthful shoves from Lee) and Sakura just smiles and watches from a distance. Naruto flails and laughs under the combined weight of Akamaru, Chouji, and a very embarrassed Hinata. Next to him, Shikamaru sighs and lets his gaze rest on the clouds above.

Sakura shakes her head and ducks into the medical tent next to her to check on her patient. The noise, it seems, has woken Uchiha Sasuke from his slumber. His face is set in a scowl and the muscles in his jaw jump whenever there is a particularly loud noise or high pitched scream from outside. His eyes flicker as they watch a small part of the celebration through the opening in the tent.

Sakura knows they are both putting on brave faces. This is Naruto's victory, and yet…

Sakura looks to Sasuke, who lays, broken, and feels contempt rise within her with every cheer from outside. The ones who celebrate Naruto's victory, who feel guilty for his hard upbringing, are the very same ones who will fight to have Sasuke condemned to death when they return to Konoha – Sakura knows this, and it makes her sick.

Still, she smiles when someone pokes their head in – curious of her whereabouts (After all, she is Sakura, and Naruto and Sakura are supposed to be inseparable. _But that's not true,_ her mind argues, _all of Team 7 – Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura – are supposed to be inseparable._) – and tells him, "As long as I have a patient, I'm afraid I'm still on duty."

The man gives a disdainful sniff at Sasuke, who doesn't even bother to glare back, and quickly returns back to the party outside.

"Ridiculous," Sasuke huffs once they are alone again.

Sakura knows he can see through her mask.

"I could say the same about you," Sakura murmurs.

She sits next to him and rests her hand over his. His arm twitches, but he makes no move to break the contact.

The celebration thunders outside, transitioning from cheers to drunken laughter. As the clamour of triumph roars to a peak of deafening noise, Sasuke speaks the words he wants no one to hear, when he is most sure that no one will.

"I don't want to die."

Still, Sakura's hand tightens around his.

x-x-x-x

END


	9. July 10: Too Painful to Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Angst  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: In the final days of the fourth war, Sakura abandons her duties to do what she must – to do what she cannot help.  
Prompt: Thunder  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Graphic Injuries. No Violence. Spoilers. Canon-verse.

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been replying to your reviews. I've been really busy and most of my free time has been focused on completing more stories for SasuSaku Month. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy.

Too Painful to Hope  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Her world stopped when it happened. Everything was gone from her mind except when she saw him fall, saw him grasp helplessly at nothing but air as he plummeted off the edge of the plateau, to the ruins of a battlefield sixty feet below.

She rushed towards him without thinking – prepared for the worst, hoping for the best.

It was both better and worse than she had expected, he was alive, but…

Sakura swallowed painfully as she surveyed the damage. In front of her, Uchiha Sasuke laid, spine bent awkwardly, impaled on the shattered remains of a wooden post that had once been a scouting tower. Still, his chest rose and fell with breath, and it gave Sakura enough hope to shove away the utter despair she felt at the sight of his broken body.

Above her, she could hear the thunder of chakra and steel as the war raged on.

Her hands worked quickly, and, for the first time, she was thankful for the war – thankful for the ability it had given her, to mindlessly work on a patient, to keep her head firmly disconnected from her heart.

She had finished taking an inventory of his injuries and had just begun treatment when he began to stir from unconsciousness.

He groaned and his eyelids slowly pulled themselves open.

Sakura freed one hand, and when he tried to sit up, she used that free hand to firmly hold him down.

"Let me go," he ordered. His voice was quiet and hoarse, uncharacteristically weak, and very unlike what she remembered.

Despite the danger she could be in once he was healed, despite the trouble she would be in for abandoning her post to heal him – despite every ounce of logic that told her to leave him be and let him have his way, she refused him.

"I can't. If you sit up now, the damage to your spine will be permanent."

Sasuke remained silent for minutes after, as if in disbelief.

She just continued to work, continued to repair damage and used her chakra to slowly pull out splinters of the wood inside him. His hand appeared next to hers, gently probing around the wound. He flinched when his hand touched the splintered wood and quickly retracted it to inspect the blood that now coated his fingertips.

After a moment, his hand fell back at his side and Sakura could feel him fall back into unconsciousness. She kept a steady watch on his vitals, let the constant rise and fall of his chest comfort her, and continued this dangerously delicate procedure.

For hours, she worked on him, ignoring aching muscles and shallow chakra reserves, until the sun was ready to fall below the horizon.

She was healing the last of his wounds when he finally regained consciousness once more.

He watched her work for a moment, his dark eyes penetrating, yet unreadable.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

The honest inquiry in his words made her heart break. Didn't he already know? Didn't he remember that she already given him everything her heart could offer?

Despite the tightness in the corners of her eyes, she smiled for him, but she could not take her gaze off her hands – could not meet his gaze.

"Don't ask me that," she rasped. "You know why. You _should_ know why. So please, _please_… don't ask me that."

"Sakura…" he called. His voice was firm but laced with an emotion she couldn't place.

She shivered and forced her gaze to meet his.

His eyes were alive – not the apathetic gaze she had gotten used to over the last few years, but the look she remembered from their genin days. What emotion was rolling about behind those eyes, she couldn't say for sure, but there was a flicker of something there – something like regret.

It was only too painful to hope.

"I…" he trailed off, and she could see his eyes almost dim as he began to shut himself away once more.

Sakura fought the sorrow – the self-mockery – that threatened to show and focused on healing the last of his wounds. He still got to her, still snuck past every carefully built defense, and it made her hate him – made her hate herself. Despite all of her training, despite all the horrors she'd seen during the war (dying patients – some younger than her – screaming and begging to see their families, to go home, as they succumbed to their injuries) his gaze, so dark and overflowing with the emotions he couldn't control, still made her shake like a child.

His gaze still made her heart ache and eyes cloud with unshed tears.

She slid her hands away, content that she had done all she could do, and suddenly unable to delay that the fight or flight instinct that was screaming at her to run, to put as much distance as possible between them.

Her heart was thundering like a frightened rabbit's, and she began her retreat. She didn't want to cry in front of this man, not anymore.

"I have to go," she murmured. She drew on every bit of the control she had left to make sure her words came out evenly. She would not let herself break in front of him. "They don't know I'm here."

She tried to turn away, but Sasuke's hand caught her elbow in a firm grip. "Sakura," he said. "Thank you."

Sakura tensed at the words and snapped her gaze back to him. Her mind was swarming with memories of that night. She stared, unable to figure out his intentions this time around, afraid that this meeting would be another loud echo of that night.

He didn't let up his grip, but he did nothing else.

He seemed to be waiting – waiting for her reaction, she realized. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, made her chest tight.

What did he expect her do? Why was he watching her so intently?

As he watched her with those eyes, those eyes so full and yet so empty, she realized that he had returned.

Maybe he had not returned to Konoha, maybe he had not returned to her or Naruto, but he had returned to himself.

That was all she had ever dared to ask for.

Her jaw trembled. She knew she may never see him again after this. She knew that Sasuke – this Sasuke, the real Sasuke – would not sit by and allow _that man_ to continue to recklessly slaughter entire nations.

If this truly was goodbye, Sakura wanted it to be on her terms this time. She leaned over him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him into her embrace. Her bowed head hovered above his, and she could feel his warm breath fan across her nose.

She timidly pressed her lips against his and tried to accept the fact that this might be all she would ever get from the man she loved – would always love. She shook, felt tears dot her eyes, and tried to pull back from him, but he followed her up.

His lips returned the kiss, if only briefly, before they broke apart, and that was almost enough.

Under her, he was shaking. Every harsh breath made his nose bump against hers, made her lips caress his.

Sasuke closed his eyes, looking pained. "You should go," he said. His voice was rough, but not as cold she remembered it to be.

She knew what he was trying to do.

"Don't," she pleaded as the tears finally broke free and flowed down her face. _Don't close up on me. Don't fight a battle that you can't possibly win._ She knew it was wrong, but at the moment, right there with him, he meant more to her than this entire war did. If losing the war meant keeping him…

"He won't stop until he's dead," Sasuke argued.

"But it doesn't have to be you!" she cried. "You… you can't face him alone!"

"Sakura," he called sharply to her. She avoided his gaze, trying to stem her tears. His hand brushed away the hair that fallen in front of her face, obscuring his view of her, and tucked it behind her ear. His thumb was stroking her cheek with such a gentle affection that it broke down the last of her defenses.

"I have to go," he said.

She choked on a sob and gasped for breath. "I know," she sobbed. "I know you do, but I don't want you to!"

She knew that she couldn't stop him from going, knew that this war came first – knew that she might never come first in his world. But she wasn't going to let him walk into this fight unprepared.

Her free hand deftly drew a vial from her med-pouch and as she pressed her face into his neck, she slipped her hand down to his and pressed the vial into his palm.

_That man_ was powerful – he possessed both the Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinnegan and had tens of thousands of jutsu at his disposal.

If Sasuke was going to even have a shot, what she had given him would at least help even the playing field.

"Do what you have to," she said, when the storm in her heart had calmed and her tears had dried. "Just… just don't forget me, okay?"

_Don't let this be the last time we see each other. Don't let this be the last time I get to kiss you._

She pulled back from him, arms sore for the embrace and utterly exhausted – physically, mentally, and emotionally. He smirked up at her. "Annoying," he huffed, but she could see the teasing glint in his eyes and she smiled despite herself.

Of course, Uchiha Sasuke would never forget someone as annoying as her.

x-x-x-x

END


	10. July 11: Huff

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Humor  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Sakura deals with the unfortunate (though quite hilarious) consequences of leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone in her office. Sasuke should just be glad he doesn't remember anything.  
Prompt: Laughter  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language and Unintentional Drug Abuse

Author's Note: Canon-verse. Slight spoilers if you're not up-to-date in the manga. Also, Winnie the Pooh reference.

I had a hard time writing this one, especially the scene at the end.

Huff  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

**April 19, 7:52 PM**

**Present Time**

Sasuke woke, strangely confused and exhausted. His head throbbed, his skull ached, and his entire body was freezing.

He groaned and pushed himself up on his elbows, wincing when pain shot through his left arm.

There was dark purple bruise that ran down the side of his arm, from his shoulder to just past his elbow, and a matching one on his shin. And where were his clothes?

He was in his bed, but the blankets were underneath him. He still had his boxers on, but that was all he was wearing.

His vision was hazy – more so than usual – and he couldn't even remember how he'd gotten home from wherever he had been. The last thing he remembered was… going to the hospital for his check-up.

What the hell had happened?

Naruto's laugh rang between his ears and he groaned. Of course that moron was probably involved. Still, if the last thing he could remember clearly was heading to the hospital, then his best chance of figuring out anything was probably going to be by finding Sakura.

That shouldn't be too hard. After all, it looked like the sun was starting to set and Sakura normally got off work at four in the afternoon. How hard could it be to find his live-in girlfriend when she was off-duty? (It did beg the question, however, of why he was shirtless if she wasn't nearby.)

"Sakura?" he called.

There was no response. Sasuke hoped she wasn't ignoring him, because it hurt to move and he didn't want to have to pretend to sleep on the couch tonight, especially in this condition. Sakura could give a mean cold shoulder when she wanted to (and an even meaner right hook).

"Sakura?" he tried again.

There was still no response. He almost lowered himself to using her pet name (he only used it during the most perilous of moments in their relationship) when he realized that it would be far more dignity saving – and logical – to just check the apartment for her chakra signature.

Nausea and dizziness slammed into him the moment he accessed his chakra, and he keeled over, his head narrowly avoiding Sakura's bedside table.

His hand fell flat on the tabletop and he felt something rough trapped between his hand and the table. A piece of paper? He snatched it and peered at it, trying to make out the words scribbled on it.

After a moment of squinting, he brought his free hand up to his face… and frowned. With an annoyed huff, he dragged himself to his own bedside table and retrieved his wire-frame glasses off of the lacquered wood.

Now that he could actually see properly with the aid of his corrective lenses, the words on the note became recognizable.

The note was from Sakura – he could tell by her near illegible handwriting (which was apparently a common trait among doctors and physicians).

_Sasuke-kun_

_ There was a bit of a _(several words were crossed out to the point of being completely unreadable)_ mishap. Naruto has been punished accordingly. Please, stay in bed and rest. Don't try to move too much and DO NOT use your chakra for anything._

_ I got called back to the hospital at six-thirty and I will be back home around nine o'clock in the evening. I'll explain everything when I get home._

_Hugs and Kisses,_

_Sakura_

_P.S.: You sound like a strangled donkey when you laugh, sweetie._

x-x-x-x

**April 19, 2:52 PM**

**5 Hours Earlier**

Sasuke was already prepared for impact when Naruto slammed into his side and almost pushed him off the end of the examination table in Sakura's office.

"Sup, asshole?" Naruto greeted cheerfully. He thumped Sasuke heartily on the back.

Sasuke growled but ignored his best friend. He doubted Sakura would appreciate blood all over her office, anyway.

"You behind on your shots, too?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke remained silent.

Naruto frowned and tried to think of another way to engage his friend in some kind of positive interaction. He could hit him, but Naruto was pretty sure that punching your friend as a form of communication fell under the negative interaction column (regardless of what Sasuke _or_ Sakura said).

Naruto rocked impatiently back and forth and swung his legs so the heels of his shoes banged against the side of the exam table. He let his eyes scan the room for some form inspiration, completely unaware that his childish behaviour was slowly driving Sasuke mad.

Just when Sasuke had gotten to the point where he felt that beating Naruto to within an inch of his life was an appropriate punishment (and that Sakura would excuse him for executing said punishment in her clean office), Naruto leapt up and rushed towards the corner of the room, where a tall, cylindrical tank stood.

"What are you doing, dead last?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto just turned to him and grinned. He held up a breathing mask that was attached to the tank via tube.

"You up for a challenge, Sasu-chan?"

x-x-x-x

Sakura strode quickly the hallway to her office, still trying to push away the frown she had gotten from the ridiculously long meeting Tsunade had forced her to attend _for no apparent reason._ She had completely missed her appointment with Sasuke and was running late for Naruto's. Sasuke had probably left in a huff, annoyed that she hadn't shown. She was going to spend another week trying to get him to speak to her again, she just knew it.

Naruto, on the other hand, probably hadn't even remembered his appointment, despite her-

She cut her train of thought and paused in the hallway as she became aware of a strange noise – a strange noise that was coming from her office. It sounded like some kind of dying animal…

There was another noise along with it, one that she instantly recognized.

"Naruto!" she roared as she slammed open the door to her office.

Naruto froze and stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights. He was sitting in her chair with the tank of nitrous oxide next to him. The gas pumped through the tube to the breathing mask Naruto was currently holding over Sasuke's face.

Sasuke was lying on the exam table, shaking with mirth. The strange braying noise Sakura had heard was actually just him laughing.

Sakura had to slap a hand over her mouth and face away from the duo. Otherwise, she would have collapsed to the floor in hysterical laughter.

"Doesn't his laugh sound so stupid, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a laugh. "No wonder he never laughs around anyone – they'd make fun of him for how dumb it sounds!"

There was a clatter of hard plastic and, between his strange wheezes and brays, Sasuke yelled. "Shut up, idiot! ... Just stop! … I can't- I can't take it anymore!"

Sasuke exploded into laughter once more and Sakura turned just in time to seem Sasuke roll off the exam table and land on the concrete floor with a hard thud. He curled up, clutching at his side. His laughs were interspersed with small declarations of pain.

Naruto smiled up at Sakura. She took one look at his smug face and knocked the breathing mask from his hand. "Are you a complete moron?" she yelled. "How many times do I have to tell you that laughing gas is _dangerous_?"

"Oh, c'mon, you have to admit this is pretty hilarious," Naruto defended.

"You could've killed him!" Sakura bellowed.

"It's laughing gas!" Naruto argued. "All it does is make people laugh! What's so dangerous about that?"

Sakura could not even dignify a response to Naruto's absolutely ridiculous (and completely false) statement. Instead, she let out a cry of frustration and shook the entire floor of the hospital when she stomped her feet.

At her show of power, the colour began to drain from Naruto's face. He realized that Sakura wasn't just freaking out, but was actually **FREAKING OUT.**

"It was just some harmless fun…?" Naruto tried to reason.

Sakura smacked him across the face so hard that he flew into the back wall of the office, denting it.

"MORON!" she screamed.

Naruto groaned and peeled himself out of the wall. Sakura had a very grim look on her face. She helped Sasuke up off of the floor, but as soon as she set him on his feet, he collapsed against her, still shaking with laughter.

"Look at him!" Sakura shouted, gesturing at Sasuke. "You broke him! I have half a mind to neuter you!"

Naruto cringed and squeezed his legs together. He knew his only chance of saving his family jewels was to grovel. "No, Sakura-chan! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please reconsider!" he cried as he threw himself to the ground before her.

"You're lucky that I've already decided not to," Sakura mumbled.

Naruto looked up with the biggest, most hopeful eyes she had ever seen. Sakura smiled serenely at him. "Instead, when Sasuke comes to, I'm going to tell him exactly what you did – how you tricked him into huffing laughing gas with you when you knew – you knew! – that Kuruma's presence makes you immune to its effects!"

"You wouldn't!" Naruto cried in disbelief.

"Oh, I would," Sakura snarled. "But don't worry," she grinned maliciously. "I won't tell him right away. I'll wait until you're not expecting it, then I'll tell him. And when he's done with you, I'll be there to heal you so he can give you a second beating."

Naruto whimpered and cursed the maliciousness Sakura had picked up from Sasuke since they'd started dating.

"And Kuruma!" she addressed. "Don't think that you are safe from my punishment, either!"

Inside Naruto, the demon fox snorted in amusement.

"I'm taking Sasuke home," Sakura said firmly. "_You_ are going to clean up my office, and then immediately – _immediately!_ – report yourself to Tsunade-sama! I will send Lee after you if you don't – and, trust me, I will know if you don't."

Naruto gulped and watched as Sakura dragged Sasuke out the door.

x-x-x-x

**April 19, 9:24 PM**

**Present Time**

"What… the fuck… is that?" Sasuke said, staring at the stuffed animal in Sakura's hands.

"It's Eeyore!" Sakura exclaimed, as if that was supposed to make sense to him. She shrugged off her coat and moved to stand next to him, where she presented him with the stuffed animal. "I got him for you! A lot of people like getting stuffed animals after they've been under anaesthetic."

"I was under anaesthetic?" he growled.

She frowned at this. "Naruto challenged you to a competition of huffing nitrous oxide – laughing gas. I'm still trying to figure out how he even managed to get you to do something that stupid."

Sasuke cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, the stuffed animal… it's… thank you?"

"I'm glad you like it," she said sarcastically. "His name is Eeyore, and I got him for you because I thought that you two had a quite a bit in common."

"I still don't know what it is," he said.

"He's Eeyore! You know, from Winnie the Pooh? He's the depressed donkey whose tail keeps falling off!" She shoved the gray plushie into his face as if he would absorb the information from proximity.

Sasuke scowled at his girlfriend. "How am I similar to a _depressed donkey_?"

Sakura had the decency to blush at this. "Well, you know," she said awkwardly. "You both moan about everything and you both think the world hates you _and_ you both make donkey noises from time to time."

Her boyfriend stared at her, scowling the meanest of scowls with the barest hint of red on his cheeks, and she felt as if she would snap in two under the tension that descended upon the room.

"You know what? You get to sleep on the couch this time," he said.

She was too stunned to speak. He turned on his heel and headed back to the bedroom. About six feet away, he paused and turned back. He snatched the plushie from her hands and stalked off again, leaving her completely befuddled as to what had just happened.

An hour later, Sakura snuck into the bedroom to get a good night's rest (she knew for a fact that Sasuke did the same thing when she told him to sleep on the couch) and she found him curled up on the bed, sleeping peacefully with the Eeyore plushie tucked under his chin. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Now she could say for sure that she had an ass for a boyfriend.

x-x-x-x

END


	11. July 12: It Will End Here

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Action/Angst  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: As the fourth war nears its final days, Sasuke realizes that if this war is to end, it must end with him. Takes place after "Too Painful To Hope."  
Prompt: Steel  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Graphic Violence. Spoilers. Canon-verse.

Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews so far!

It Will End Here  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

His heart clenches painfully. The blow sends him to his knees and his sword lands five feet away from him, pierced in the soft soil – upright.

Madara – no, Tobi – laughs condescendingly behind his mask. "Did you think you were playing the hero, Sasuke-kun? Did you think you were the just knight on a holy crusade?" He shakes his head and the laughter stops. "You are foolish and weak," he rasps.

_/His heart thundered victoriously in his chest as he watched Naruto struggle to get his feet in front of him. The blood and sweat running down his face, down his arms, felt like glory. Every aching muscle and broken bone spoke of his conquest._

_He could barely contain his elation at the sight of a crippled Naruto, trembling with weakness._

_A sharp stab of disquiet hit his heart when Naruto began to laugh. It was a strange, mockingly sad laugh._

"_You really are lost, aren't you?" Naruto asked._

_The steady pounding of Sasuke's heart became erratic with fury._

"_What are you talking about? This is my _victory_!" Sasuke roared, crazed with hysteria and bloodlust._

_Naruto shook his head; blood flew from the tips of his hair. "I thought that… after everything, you would have… at least noticed." Naruto shook his head again and coughed, spat blood on to the ground. "Or are you really so far gone… that you can't even tell… my shadow clones apart from the real me?"_

_A heavy weight slammed against Sasuke's chest, knocked the air from his lungs. His arm began to burn with the current of the Chidori. Naruto pushed away and the two rivals flew apart._

_Naruto tumbled awkwardly to his feet and struggled to stay upright._

_Sasuke moved for his sword as he came down, the cries of approaching ninja had him prepared to strike quickly and precisely. His feet came down… and the rock under him gave way, sending him tumbling off the cliff side with no way to stop./_

Tobi's hand grasps his chin, makes him look up – meet the evil mastermind's eyes. Tobi's eyes scan over his neck, over his scarred chest. "Did they convince you that you were still a good boy, Sasuke-kun? Did the girl heal you – deceive you with caring words and empty promises?"

_/Sasuke slowly woke to a throbbing pain in his skull and the smell of blood and smoke. He tried to sit up, but a firm hand held him down._

"_Let me go," he ordered._

"_I can't," Sakura's voice answered. "If you sit up now, the damage to your spine will be permanent."_

_Sasuke could hardly believe what he was hearing. He tilted his head, ever so slightly, and winced at the sudden rush of pain that shot up his neck. Despite the sheer terror that gripped his heart and made it pound recklessly, Sasuke forced his eyes to look down. He saw Sakura, knelt over him; her hands alight with healing chakra. He saw… something else. He raised his shaking arm and let his fingers touch the strange protrusion._

_His jaw clenched and nausea filled his stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall back, teeth grinding from the pain._

_He couldn't erase the image of what he'd seen from his mind. There was something impaled through his torso, just below the ribcage._

_Sasuke didn't know how long Sakura worked on him, as he drifted in and out of consciousness, defenseless against the agony his body was going through._

_Sasuke finally awoke without pain. His body ached and his muscles cramped, but there was no pain – no blinding agony._

_Sakura was healing the last of the wound – sealing the cut that ran up his chest and over his collarbone._

"_Why are you doing this?" he asked._

_A heartbreaking smile appeared on her lips. "Don't ask me that," she rasped. "You know why. You _should_ know why. So please, _please…_ don't ask me that."_

"_Sakura," he called._

_She looked away from her hands to his face._

_His heart was exploding with all the things he'd never said, all the emotions he'd never shown. It felt like it was trying to break out of his chest. His throat was tight with pain._

"_I…" he tried to say._

_Something, some emotion, flashed across Sakura's face, but she didn't reveal it to him. She finished healing the cut and let her hands slide away._

"_I have to go," she murmured. "They don't know I'm here."_ With you, _remained unspoken._

_Sasuke grasped her elbow with his hand. His grip was firm, but gentle. "Sakura, thank you."_

_Sakura turned to look at him and he felt her arm tense under his hand. He made no move to do anything else, however. He just watched her, waited to see what she would do – wanted to see what she would do._

_Her jaw trembled and she leaned over him. Her arm wrapped around the back of his neck, pulling him in to an embrace. Her head bowed down and he felt her breath against his lips, felt as she hesitantly brushed her lips against his own._

_Unthinking, Sasuke tightened his hold on her elbow and pushed himself up into the kiss._

_His heart roared in his chest, desperately trying to break out its cage._

_The kiss ended, but her lips still caressed his with every uneven breath._

_Sasuke closed his eyes, trying not to think about what he wanted to say – what he _had_ to say – and what the ramifications of those words would mean. "You should go," he said. She had to go, or he would never be able to face _him_ – face the man who had started this whole thing._

"_Don't," she pleaded. He could feel her tears as they fell from her eyes to his chin._

"_He won't stop until he's dead."_

"_But it doesn't have to be you! You… you can't face him alone!" Her face was warped with sorrow, her arms shaking, trembling as she pushed herself away from him. She let her head fall so her bangs blocked her face from view. Her tears dripped from her face to his chest and every sob that came from her lips made his chest ache._

"_Sakura," he called firmly. He raised his hand to brush her hair behind her ear. His thumb caressed her cheek. "I have to go."_

_Sakura trembled and she struggled for breath. "I know," she choked out. "I know you do, but I don't want you to!"_

_She pressed her face into his neck and embraced him once more. Her hand slipped down to tangle with his._

_They laid there until Sakura's sobs faded back to even breathing and her tears had finally stopped._

"_Do what you have to," she said. "Just… just don't forget me, okay?"_

_She pulled back from him and he smirked, despite the situation._

"_Annoying," he huffed./_

"What did you think you could accomplish by this?" Tobi taunts. "Did you think you could stop me? Did you think that the world wouldn't be in this sorry state if it wasn't for you? Don't be so arrogant, Sasuke-kun. This has nothing to do with you. The massacre? The Akatsuki? The Kyubi? The war? They had nothing to do with you! You do not define these things – they define you! You are nothing more than a disgustingly _pathetic_ victim of circumstance. You are _nothing_."

He drops Sasuke's chin and walks over to where the Kusanagi stood. "Death from his own design," he murmurs as he grasps the Kusanagi's handle and draws it from the ground.

Sasuke squeezes his eyes shut and clenches his teeth. His hand comes up to clutch at his chest. His heart feels like it is on fire – like it is being crushed. _This is too much, _he thinks, panicked. _This is too much. I can't handle it. I'm going to die here._

Tobi crouches in front of him and grabs a fistful of his hair, yanking cruelly until Sasuke faces him once more. He teases the blade of the Kusanagi along Sasuke's throat. "The throat… or the heart?" Tobi wonders. "Or, perhaps, something slower and more painful?"

Sasuke's heart continues to beat frantically and painfully. He is certain this will be the end when the fire suddenly shoots out from his heart and spreads like wildfire through his blood stream.

Sasuke slowly opens his tired eyes, and Tobi lets out a cruel bark of laughter. "You really think your mangekyou is powerful enough to defeat me?"

_/She pressed her face into his neck and embraced him. Her hand slipped down to tangle with his._

_Sasuke felt the familiar contours of a glass vial press into his palm, unaware of its contents./_

"I guess you'll never learn," Tobi says, pityingly.

He begins to bring the sword up for the final blow – the tomoe of Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan begin to move and stretch – Tobi pauses to watch, curious – until they rearrange into the black rings of the Rinnegan.

Tobi falls back in shock and disbelief while Sasuke bares his teeth in a hateful grin, the taste of the Senju's blood still on his tongue and burning through his blood and chakra, fusing and fighting with his own.

Sasuke rises to his feet.

It _will_ end here.

x-x-x-x

END


	12. July 13: Fever Dreams

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Angst  
Summary: In Sasuke's first days at Sound, Sakura haunts his subconscious.  
Prompt: Hallucinate  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Blood.

Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait on the update. This month has not been good for me. I just want to let you all know that I will be finishing this anthology. So expect to see the rest of the stories I didn't finish in time for the SSM submission deadline. Your reviews mean a lot. Thank you.

Fever Dreams  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

When Sasuke first goes to Sound, he spends weeks being immunized to various venoms and poisons. He spends most of his days in drug induced fevers, body flush and covered in a slick sheen of sweat. The pain is unbearable, but he doesn't feel it – isn't aware of it – because his mind is elsewhere.

"_It's a slow process, but necessary for your training. We can't have you dying from something as trivial as a snake bite after we worked so hard to bring you here." Orochimaru says, eyes roving over Sasuke. "It will be painful, but I'm sure you can handle that. What I'm more curious about is what visions you will see when the fever takes hold."_

Lost in the depths of his subconscious, his mind dreams of strange things – things Sasuke would never dream of on his own.

He dreams of Sakura.

The dream starts with him waking up. Sakura stands above him, tugging on his hand with hers and trying to get him to stand up – to follow her.

He'll get up and follow. Her hand in his feels strange. Sakura smiles at him over her shoulder.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

She doesn't respond.

x-x-x-x

She pulls him up once more. He feels damp grass tickle the back of his legs. Her hand tugs him forward. She moves faster this time. He sees the flicker of trees and feels the warmth of sunlight dappled by shade. The scent of evergreen and a humid summer's day tell him all he needs to know.

They are in Konoha.

She is in Konoha.

x-x-x-x

Sakura still wants to take him somewhere, but he doesn't know where. Whenever he asks, she just smiles at him and doesn't reply.

Somehow, that is all he needs.

x-x-x-x

There's an ache in his heart as Sakura pulls him forward. Desperately, he wants to know where she is going to take him.

The ache is even worse, though, because, deep down, he knows that it doesn't matter where she takes him.

It doesn't matter because they are not in Konoha.

He is not in Konoha.

This is all just a dream. He can't go anywhere with her – not anymore.

He pulls his hand away and turns his back. The world stops. His breath is stuck in his chest.

Thin arms wrap around him from behind and he feels Sakura rest her forehead on his shoulder.

He can breathe again.

x-x-x-x

He dreams of her only once outside of his fever dreams.

Sakura blossoms dance in his vision. A garden in the night, lit by lamplight – fireworks scattered throughout. It's a festival of some kind.

Sakura is there.

She stands to his left, too close, yet, just out of reach. She laughs and talks about this or that and it's so strange…

Because she is in front of him, lying motionless on the ground, blood pooling around her.

The Sakura next to him continues to talk, her smile never faltering, but the dying Sakura in front of him freezes him with her blank, wide eyes.

In her eyes he sees a reflection of himself – not of who he is, but of what he will become. He sees a powerful man with a malicious grin and empty eyes. He sees the perfect avenger.

This is what he wants, and if Sakura must be sacrificed to achieve it, then so be it.

Still, he looks back to the Sakura standing next to him and wonders if she sees what he sees. She chats animatedly, oblivious to her corpse that lays not ten feet from her.

The Sasuke he sees in her eyes is not one he recognizes at all. A stoic man with a gentle smile – a thin, brittle man – a weak man.

His heart aches and he wonders why.

The corpse starts moaning, low and painful and soon both Sakura are slowly rising in volume until the dead one is screaming and wailing - sobbing at the top of her lungs – and the live one is chattering so loudly that the words pound into Sasuke's skull like some kind of crazed drum beat. The two voices of both Sakura clatter together and spiral up in to some kind of terrifying crescendo.

Sasuke wakes up at that instant. There is a growing trepidation in his heart as he realizes what he must become.

He never speaks of this dream.

x-x-x-x

Near the end, the venom starts to lose its bite. As the fever slowly washes over him, Sasuke wonders if this will be the last time he dreams of Sakura.

Sakura appears in flashes, in the beats of his heart. He grabs her hand this time – this time, he will lead. She follows without complaint and Sasuke prepares to do what he must and everything feels so wrong but he doesn't slow his paces. His little game is ending and he has no need for this fever dream anymore.

x-x-x-x

END


	13. July 14: Lost

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort  
Summary: The best defense is a good offense, so Sasuke decides to break her in order to save her – in order to save himself. Post-Canon.  
Prompt: Armor  
Rating: K  
Warnings: None

Author's Note: Trying to keep the updates quick. Some of you may have already seen this on one LJ. Sorry it's so short.

Lost  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

She is an enigma to him – annoyingly naïve and optimistic, but underneath all that there is an unwavering strength. Part of him wants to break her down, to strip her of that naïveté, if only to save her from a worse hurt. The other part just wants to break.

He tries and he tries. He lashes out with words. He brings her to tears. He denounces all her ambitions.

He tries to crush all her hopes.

But she comes back each day, refreshed and seemingly unaffected. She tends to him with caring hands and a lover's smile. The strain of the days is barely visible, but it is there. He can see the growing shadows under her eyes – the tired, aching look she sends him. It tells him he's inching closer to his goal.

She comes in to his hospital room one morning, still bruised from an early training session.

"Still pathetic I see," he hisses maliciously.

Sadness creeps into her features and Sasuke grins. He can feel victory closing in. He's going to break her today – he knows it. "What? Can't even say anything to defend yourself?" he snarls.

She does not break her gaze on him and this unnerves him. She raises her hand and cradles his cheek. Her thumb softly strokes the skin there.

"How long will it take before you realize that I'm not going anywhere, Sasuke-kun?"

The way she looks at him is… is…

Sasuke can't describe the emotions crashing his chest, constricting his lungs.

In that moment, all of his efforts finally pay off.

He breaks.

The armor he's so carefully built finally breaks apart and it's like he can breathe again. He takes in a shuddering breath and pushes Sakura's hand away. No one should see him like this. He can't let them think he is weak. He is not weak – breaking is for weak people.

He draws another shuddering breath, feels Sakura's fingers run soothingly through his hair, and knows he has lost.

It's crazy, but Sakura has somehow beaten him without even trying.

Sasuke has lost – had lost – had been lost for a very long time.

Now Sakura has found him.

x-x-x-x

END


	14. July 15: Strange Days

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Humor/Friendship  
Summary: Naruto and Sakura are acting weird, to Sasuke's dismay. Post-Canon.  
Prompt: Blabbermouth  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language.

Author's Note: Sorry it's so late - this one was giving me a lot of trouble.

Strange Days  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

After his desire to destroy the village died down, Sasuke had thought that his return to the village would've been a return to normalcy – a respite from his anger and a chance to find peace. Then he realized that any day with his former teammates was anything but normal. Every day was a strange and less-than-wonderful adventure for Sasuke. Today was no different.

Sasuke and Naruto were at Ichiraku Ramen, having lunch and waiting for Sakura to meet them there – this was not unusual. What was unusual was the fact that Naruto was annoyingly paranoid about something. When Sasuke tried to start a conversation with his friend, or even tried to look at him, the blond would freeze up, pale, and his hands would shake until his noodles dropped back into his bowl.

Sasuke sighed and slouched in his seat. He didn't feel like confronting Naruto right now because the last thing Sasuke needed to do was listen to Naruto's stupid problems, so he just ignored his best friend's strange attitude and counted down the time until Sakura showed up.

She would know how to deal with Naruto and…

…and he just wanted to see her. Team 7 had grown on him before his departure, but they had grown on him even more so since his return, and Sakura had grown on him the most. Naruto had changed very little since he'd left, but Sakura… Sakura was something else, entirely. In his heart, he knew that she had been there for him before he'd left, but he'd pushed that from his mind while he'd been gone to harden himself. He was ashamed to admit that he couldn't remember Sakura all that fondly.

Now – now was different. She was the same person he wanted to remember, only… better.

She was everything he never realized he'd been looking for.

"Oi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted.

It broke Sasuke from his reverie. He looked up and saw Sakura walking towards them. She raised her hand in greeting. As she neared them, her eyes met his and she flushed, bowing her head to break his gaze.

Sasuke watched her, suspicious of her strange behaviour. Usually, she greeted both of them with a grin and a sarcastically cheery tale of how her day was going. This – this was odd. Sakura didn't do shy anymore.

Did she?

She sat down between the two (there was always a seat open between Naruto and Sasuke for safety reasons) and quietly ordered her lunch. She smiled brightly and greeted Naruto, who responded in kind.

Sasuke turned to watch this strange behaviour and Naruto instantly clammed up, going back to stirring his noodles with his chopsticks. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his friend and stared at him so intently that he almost missed his own mouth with his chopsticks.

Sakura giggled (_giggled!_) at him, and a blush dusted her cheeks. "Hello, Sasuke-kun," she said.

He swallowed. It had been a long time since she'd called him Sasuke-_kun_. Something inside him lit up at the return of the suffix.

"Sakura," he greeted.

Even to him, his own voice sounded much deeper than he remembered it being that morning.

She smiled and he smirked. Teuchi served Sakura her ramen and she thanked him, all the while glancing at Sasuke from the corner of her eyes.

The three ate in relative silence. Naruto seemed to have calmed down a bit now that Sakura was there, but both were still acting very weird. Sakura was blushing and acting shy. (_She'd called him Sasuke-kun!)_ Naruto was jittery and paranoid, almost as if… he was feeling guilty.

Sasuke froze and his brain rushed back to a blurred memory from days before.

_(Sakura had left early, citing an early morning shift as her reason. Now it was just the two of them, watching the game, drinking what was left of the beer, and attempting to hold some kind of conversation._

_Sasuke stared hazily at the flat screen in Naruto's apartment. The alcohol made his head heavy and his heart strangely light. He decided that the only way to remedy this was to have another beer._

_The sharp crack of the can opening broke the awkward silence._

"_I miss Sakura-chan," Naruto said. His voice was strangely fluid from the alcohol. "She works so much, now."_

_Sasuke found himself nodding. "I miss her, too," he said, and was surprised that he'd spoken aloud. Still, his tongue was on a roll and neither head nor heart was up to the task of stopping it. "She loved me. She loved me and I fucked it up. I miss that."_

_He didn't know what he was saying. His heart was forcing words into his mouth that his brain was too inebriated to decipher._

"…_Yeah," Naruto agreed. "She's awesome now, but… she's like… too awesome, y'know? Everyone wants her awesomeness." He nodded self-assuredly. "…Yeah."_

_Sasuke nodded, solemn and drunk. His eyes barely registered the players running about the field on the TV anymore._

"_She still loves you, she just doesn't show it," Naruto said. "Since you're," he raised his hands to make air quotations, "settling in… or whatever." He downed the rest of his beer as if what he had just said had not been monumental in any way._

_Sasuke snorted._

"_Remember how she used to call you Sasuke-kun?" Naruto chuckled. "It was cute. I think I should call you Sasu-chan!"_

_Naruto collapsed into a drunken fit of laughter._

_Sasuke sipped his beer and stared hard the coffee table. "I miss it," he said, not quite sure what he was referring to, but knowing that it was Sakura who made his chest ache._

_Naruto calmed down to a drunken chuckle and looked at Sasuke. "What? You miss being called Sasuke-kun?"_

You miss her love?_ Sasuke heard in the silence that followed._

_Sasuke didn't answer Naruto; he just flopped back on the couch and downed the rest of his beer. It didn't matter, though, because his omission was as good as a yes.)_

Sasuke cleared his throat and accidentally caught the attention of his teammates. Sakura's cheeks were still a light red and she twirled a lock of her hair around her finger – another thing she hadn't done in a long time. Though, if Sasuke had to admit, he liked it. Naruto, on the other hand, stared at Sasuke, terror in his blue eyes.

Naruto knew he was in trouble.

Sasuke stood and grabbed Naruto by the arm. "Excuse us for a second," he said to Sakura.

"…Uh, okay," Sakura said. She watched Sasuke drag Naruto into the alley next to Ichiraku's.

Sasuke pinned Naruto to the wall of the alley, hands fisted in Naruto's bright orange jacket. Sasuke felt the heat rising to his cheeks and snarled. It was bad enough that he'd blabbed his secrets to Naruto while drunk, but now…

"You told her?!" he almost screeched. He bared his teeth in anger and slammed his best friend against the wall once more.

Even worse than Naruto's less-than-apologetic stare was the sound of Sakura's laughter from around the corner.

Sasuke felt heat burst across his face at the realization that he was not out of Sakura's earshot.

He should've destroyed Konoha when he'd had the chance.

x-x-x-x

END


	15. July 16: Shadow Puppets

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Family  
Summary: After a long mission, Sasuke returns home to his family. Post-Canon. Fluff.  
Prompt: Shadows  
Rating: K  
Warnings: Fluff.

Author's Note: I have this very large headcanon in terms of SasuSaku babies. I love SasuSaku babies.

EDIT: So if you're seeing this. It means I had to delete and re-upload this chapter a second time because FFNet was being a douchebag.

Shadow Puppets  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

After three weeks away on mission, Sasuke entered his home to the sound of laughter. He paused and listened, not wanting to intrude on the moment by revealing his presence. Quietly, and with a small smile, he removed his shoes and flak jacket. A flicker of chakra from the bedroom told him that Sakura had already noticed his return. He let his chakra respond – letting her know that he was okay – and moved down the hall.

Another burst of laughter came from the bedroom and Sasuke slowed as he approached the open door. Even now, he was still afraid that his intrusion would be an unwelcome break in the happiness. He leant against the doorframe and watched his family. Sakura was on her stomach on the floor with their three children surrounding her. A blanket fort had been built around them. Satoshi, who was four, had his younger sister Emiko in his lap. Daisuke, Emiko's twin brother, sat on Sakura's back. The twins were a little over a year old now.

They were sitting around a large floodlight on the floor that was pointed at the wall. Sakura was making very strange, very incorrect hand seals in front of it.

It took Sasuke a moment to realize that the children weren't looking at Sakura's hands, but at the shadows her hands had cast on the wall. Sasuke smiled and stepped softly into the room, but Satoshi turned at the quiet noise.

"Dad!" he cheered. Emiko clapped clumsily in his lap. Both got up to greet him. Daisuke smiled brightly and raised his pudgy fist as if in cheer, but he quickly went back to snuggling his mother. Emiko toddled towards him slowly while Satoshi all but charged him. Sasuke quickly bent down and scooped Satoshi up with his arm, using the boy's momentum to bring his son up on his shoulders. Satoshi wrapped his hands around Sasuke's neck. He rubbed his palms against Sasuke's stubbly chin and giggled.

Sasuke leant down and held out his hands for his daughter to grasp as she took halting steps toward him. She had her biggest smile on for him, and she reached out her arms for him. Sasuke scooped her up and held her up against his chest.

"Dada!" she cried, as she snuggled into his shirt.

Her words momentarily stunned Sasuke. "They can speak now?" he said.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't get all sappy," she said. "They use _dada_ for everything."

As if to prove her point (he _was_ a momma's boy), Daisuke squealed, "Dada!" and flopped on his mother's head, snuggling into her hair.

Emiko tugged on her father's shirt. "Dada," she said. She pointed to the wall where Sakura's hands were still casting shadows. "Dada."

Sasuke sighed and walked over to Sakura. He knelt and Satoshi jumped from his back to the floor. His son beckoned him to the cramped space under the blanket fort tent thing. He transitioned Emiko to his shoulders and settled down on his stomach next to Sakura. Satoshi sat on his other side.

"Can you make shadow puppets, too?" Satoshi asked.

Sasuke made a face and saw Sakura grin.

Before Sasuke could answer, Daisuke let out a large yawn and Emiko instantly followed suit. "I'll take these two to bed," Sakura said. She smiled at him reassuringly and collected the twins with an ease that Sasuke both admired and envied.

Once Sakura had left with the twins, Satoshi repeated his question.

"No, I can't," Sasuke admitted. He'd never had the chance when he'd been a child, and, after the massacre, he hadn't even bothered with things like that – they'd seemed trivial and unnecessary.

"Oh." Satoshi looked disappointed for a moment, but a smile quickly broke out on his face. "But that's okay, because I can teach you!"

Sasuke watched as Satoshi placed his little hands in front of the floodlight and twisted them into strange shapes. "This is a dog," he said. His hands rearranged into another shape. "And this is a bunny rabbit!" He looked at his dad over his shoulder and smiled, flush on his cheeks. "Mom hasn't taught me how to make the dinosaur yet…" He seemed a little disappointed by this fact, but he turned his attention back to his father. "Now you try."

Sasuke blinked and sighed. He raised his hands in front of the flood lamp. He tried to arrange his fingers the way he remembered seeing Satoshi's, but it was surprisingly harder than he'd thought. When he was almost certain that he had it right, he looked up at the wall to view the shadow he'd cast – it was an indiscernible blob.

Satoshi giggled. "Here," he said. He reached out and shifted his father's hands into the correct position. "Like that! Now move your fingers like this… and it moves its mouth!"

Sasuke inspected the shadow puppet he'd made with a strange sense of pride. He caught a flash of pink from the corner of his eye. Sakura was leaning in the doorframe, like he had been earlier, just watching. There was a soft smile on her lips and her green eyes were twinkling with amusement.

Sasuke flushed and pulled his hands from in front of the floodlight.

"Time for bed, kiddo," Sakura said, catching Satoshi's attention.

"Aw," he pouted. "But I don't wanna."

"Bedtime means bedtime," she said. "We have rules for a reason."

Satoshi huffed and stood up. "Night, dad," he said. He gave his father a quick hug and then walked towards his mother to take her hand. Sasuke began to clean up the bedroom so he and Sakura could get some sleep. As his wife and son walked down the hallway, Sasuke could hear them speak.

"I didn't get to finish teaching Dad how to make shadow puppets!"

"Don't worry – there will be many nights for you to teach him. I promise."

x-x-x-x

END


	16. July 17: Coming Home

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Romance? (I'm not sure what this is, drama? fluff? romance? humour? IDK)  
Summary: Sakura compares the dreams of her youth to her current reality. Post-canon.  
Prompt: Younger  
Rating: T

Author's Note: This is so late and I apologize for that. It may seem kind of redundant to some people for me to be continuing this so many months after the fact, but I do want to finish this, no matter how many months I go over.

Coming Home  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

When Sakura was younger, she'd spent years fantasizing about her perfect future with Uchiha Sasuke. The wedding, the kids, his proposal, and, her favourite, how he would greet her when he came home each day from work.

He would walk through the door and first be greeted by the smell of dinner that Sakura had lovingly cooked. He'd smile and Sakura would greet him in the entryway. She'd help take off his flak jacket and would walk him to the table where dinner sat waiting. He'd kiss her, compliment her looks (even her forehead), and sit down to eat. She would follow suit and only eat while he was eating. They'd talk, but mostly she'd listen to him recount tales of the heroic deeds he'd performed that day – saving kittens, killing an evil tyrant, helping a mother deliver a baby, etc. – the usual childhood fantasy stuff.

He would always finish the last tale with this line: "Of course, I wouldn't be able to do any of that if I didn't have you to come home to."

That was where the fantasy ended, with his bright smile and admission of love.

Now, thirteen years later, things are quite a bit different than the fantasies she had thought up at ten.

Sakura enters her home, slouched and tired from a long day at the hospital. "I'm home," she says gruffly. The smell of metal polish and iron dust invades her nostrils – Sasuke's been sharpening his tools in the house again.

She sighs and strips off her boots and coat. "Sasuke?" she calls.

"What?" His voice comes from the study down the hall.

"Did you make dinner?"

"No," he says. "Was I supposed to?"

_Typical,_ she thinks. Sasuke rarely takes responsibility for any household task unless specifically asked to do so. Her stomach grumbles and she frowns. _I don't think I could stomach another night of takeout._ Before she resigns herself to searching for the takeout menus for the fourth time this week, she decides to search the fridge for leftovers. She doubts she'll find any, though – Sasuke will eat almost anything if it's already made.

As expected, the fridge is devoid of any premade meals. She closes the fridge door and hears the grinding wheel start up down the hall.

"Sasuke! What did I tell you about sharpening your weapons in the house?"

The grinding wheel stops and her fiancé sticks his head out into the hallway. "Well, I can't do it outside. The wheel will rust in this humidity."

"Then build a goddamn workshop for it, instead of hiding it in the study. Or are you trying to poison us?"

He retreats back into the study, but Sakura hears him snort. "…Trust me, Sakura. If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it by now."

The grinding wheel starts up again, and Sakura isn't sure how to respond to Sasuke's blatantly reminiscent statement. "Uh…-"

"I mean," Sasuke continues over the harsh sound of metal on metal. "You've given me so many openings. Your natural guard is really poor – I can't believe they let you go on S-rank missions with a guard like that."

Sakura's hackles rise and she charges down the hallway. She slams open the door to the study. Sasuke is hunched over the wheel, sharpening his chokuto. _Of course,_ she thinks. She rolls her eyes and trudges towards him. He tries to ignore her, but she grabs the two hundred pound wheel as if it weighs nothing and pulls it from him and out of the room.

"Sakura!" He chases after her.

"No! I'm sick of coming home to you sharpening your shit inside and spreading hazardous fumes! I keep my equipment in good shape without trying to kill us both. You could at least do the same."

Sakura dumps the wheel in the garden, and Sasuke stares at it in exasperation. It will take him hours to move it back to the study and repair the damage that Sakura has done to it in twelve seconds.

On the other hand, Sakura is right. He's wanted to convert the old shed into a workshop for some time. He just hasn't bothered because he'd been busy and it was easier not to. Now that Sakura has moved the wheel half way, though, perhaps he should just go with it.

Too bad his stubborn pride won't allow that.

"Sakura," he says, and turns to her. He stops when he sees her crossed arms and fixed scowl.

"What about when we have kids, Sasuke? Are you going to subject them to that, too? You really need to start thinking about the future."

Sasuke's shoulders slump. Sakura is right, like usual – though he will never like to admit it.

"Fine," he says. He reaches forward to rest his hand on Sakura's arm. She doesn't pull away. He steps forward and gives her a light kiss. "I'll build the damn workshop."

She huffs, but the tension doesn't leave her.

"C'mon, let's head inside," he says. His hand drops to her hip and gently urges her back into the house. "I'll take care of dinner and you can sit and complain about your day."

Sakura's lips quirk up in a smile at this. She knows that it's his way of apologizing.

He guides her to the kitchen and she leans against the edge of the dining table, facing him. He steps into her and lets his arms loop around her waist. Her hand reaches up and cups his neck. He bows his head to kiss her.

When he pulls away, she looks down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she says. She didn't mean to flip out on him. She knows he's been busy all summer doing missions – he hasn't had time to even think about building the workshop yet.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Don't," he says. He presses his cheek to hers and she leans into him.

It's hard to admit, but they're still learning. As individuals, they are still changing and evolving. He is more than just the boy she crushed on when she was little, and she is much more than that annoying girl he used to be teammates with.

"Tell me about your day," he says.

He surprises her by preparing dinner rather than calling for takeout. She helps him prepare the food, recounting her day to him. She growls out the tale of a frustratingly idiotic group of chunin that had fallen under her care and animates the story with harsh words and violent gestures. She doesn't notice that she's still holding the large kitchen knife in her hand until after her story is over. She flushes in embarrassment, but Sasuke just smirks at her – a soft smirk – and it stays on his face as he returns to cooking.

_And really,_ she thinks, a smile tugging on her lips at Sasuke's relaxed stance and light eyes, _I wouldn't be able to do any of that if I didn't have you to come home to._

x-x-x-x

END


	17. July 18: Disturbance

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Angst/Family  
Summary: Sasuke's sleep is disturbed by an unexpected visitor. Post-canon.  
Prompt: Ghost  
Rating: T  
Warning: Character Death.

Author's Note: First of the double update. This one was already posted on the SSM LJ comm, but now it's finally up here.

Disturbance  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

"Sasuke? Wake up. Wake up, Sasuke."

Sasuke squinted against the too bright light and his eyes fluttered open at the feather-light touch on his face.

"Morning, love," Sakura's blurred face smiled down at him. "You sure took your time waking up!"

He smiled up at her and let his fingers play with her hair. His clouded vision followed her every move as she slid from the side of the bed and tugged him out of bed. Her usually powerful grip felt weightless. He slid to his feet effortlessly, and followed her to the kitchen. She nabbed a slice of tomato off of a plate on the table and spun to face him, teasing him with it.

He moved forward, pressing her against the edge of the table and carefully grabbed the tomato slice from her fingers with his mouth.

She laughed at the gesture and he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"What's the occasion?" he whispered against her skin.

"No occasion," she said. "Can't I just be awesome without needing a reason?"

He chuckled and they kissed, soft and warm, and something inside Sasuke swelled.

She pulled away, a somewhat guilty look on her face. "Well, to be honest, I just got notified that my mission to Lightning Country has to be extended and…"

Sakura's voice seemed to lose all volume. He could see her mouth moving from the corner of his eye, knew what she was saying, but he couldn't hear her.

Something in Sasuke's brain had clicked. She never came back from Lightning Country.

He stepped back from Sakura. "No, this is wrong," he tried to say, but nothing came out of his mouth. It was like his throat was frozen.

Cold seemed to seep in through every pore and Sakura took hesitant steps towards Sasuke but somehow only ended up farther away.

Images flashed in his brain: Sakura smiling saucily at him over her bare shoulder, Sakura playing 'peek-a-boo' with their first son, Sakura laughing as he attempted to braid her hair.

"Dad?"

Sasuke groaned into his pillow and woke from his fitful slumber. His eyes opened and he could clearly see every detail of the dark room. He turned to see his youngest son, Daisuke, peering in at him from the doorway with bright green eyes.

"I had a bad dream," the six-year-old said.

Sasuke patted the spot on the bed next to him. "Come here."

Daisuke pulled himself onto the bed and snuggled into his father's side. Sasuke stroked his son's unruly pink hair, swallowed the lump in his throat, and tried not to think about his dead wife.

x-x-x-x

END


	18. July 19: Highly Sensitive

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademark.

Genre: Humor/Romance  
Summary: A messenger-nin gets a mission that could make or break his career, or so he thinks. Post-canon.  
Prompt: Messenger  
Rating: T

Author's Note: Second part of the double update.

Highly Sensitive  
by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Suna was hot and Jun thought he'd never be able to get the sand out of his clothes. He was starting to develop a rash on his legs from the constant irritation of the coarse grains. Jun adjusted his Konoha headband and wondered if he'd get any work today.

Life as a messenger-nin sure could be boring. He thought about sneaking off to get some ointment for his sunburn.

He very nearly wet himself when he turned around and came face to face with _the_ Uchiha Sasuke.

Despite the fact that Uchiha Sasuke had been reinstated as a Konoha ninja almost five years ago, Jun was still very much afraid of the younger man, mostly due to his infamy as a psychopath on the battlefield during the Fourth War. Sasuke's dark gaze pinned Jun to the spot. Jun's whole body trembled when Sasuke did not break his gaze.

Sasuke raised his hand and Jun flinched. When nothing struck him, Jun realized that Sasuke was not raising his hand to strike, but to hand Jun a note.

Right, Jun was a messenger-nin – Sasuke was just there to use his services.

"W-who will I be… be t-taking this to?" Jun squeaked.

"Haruno Sakura," Sasuke had sharply. "Deliver it to her in person. The contents are highly sensitive and must not fall in to the wrong hands."

"O-of course!" Jun said. He accepted the envelope and tucked it carefully into his vest. His hands were trembling under Sasuke's intense stare and the weight of his mission.

Sasuke remained once the envelope was stored.

Jun soon realized why. "O-oh! You… you want me to go… now? O-of course you do, w-what am I saying? H-highly sensitive contents and… and what not, of course."

Sasuke nodded and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

Jun immediately breathed a sigh of relief. All of the tension left his muscles and he crumpled to the ground. It was going to take a few minutes to get his legs to work again, but Jun realized that he needed to leave as soon as possible if he wanted to stay on Uchiha Sasuke's good side.

x-x-x-x

Jun made it back to Konoha in record time. He ignored the pain in his ribs (the result of a misstep and an even poorer landing) and immediately headed towards the hospital, where he knew that Haruno Sakura would be. Normally, he wouldn't be so reckless, but he could feel the weight of the letter in his vest pocket and knew that it was important. It contained "highly sensitive information" and he needed to make sure that it got to the right hands… or all of Konoha could be in danger.

Jun swallowed thickly – he had to deliver this as fast as possible.

He made his way to Haruno Sakura's office, ignoring the looks he was receiving due to the wonderful variety of colours blooming across the side of his face. He was grinning like a madman despite the huge bruise. Finally, he wasn't delivering useless drivel or shopping lists. No, he was delivering something of importance this time – something that could very possibly shape the future of Konoha.

He felt so proud.

He knocked on Haruno-san's door even though two of his fingers were broken on that hand. Then, he stood at attention when she opened the door. She looked him over and sighed. She pulled a wad of rolled up ryou from her pocket and counted out a sizeable tip for him. She stuffed it in his vest as he handed her the letter.

"To Haruno-san," Jun said proudly. "From Uchiha-san, concerning matters of a highly sensitive nature."

"That's what he tells everyone," Sakura muttered. She flipped the envelope over in her hands and called for a nearby med-nin. "Rumi? Can you come and fix up this young man?"

Despite the pride that swelled in him at the success of such an important delivery, Jun was very grateful for the medical attention. His ankle was starting to ache. He was pretty sure he had broken it.

As Rumi came to take Jun away, Sakura left Jun with some parting words. "Next time Sasuke asks you to deliver something to me, just say no."

Stunned, Jun could only gape as Sakura slammed the door in his face.

x-x-x-x

Sakura sighed and played with the envelope in her hand. She really needed to talk with Sasuke about his abuse of the messenger-nin.

Still, she tore open the envelope with an equal amount of trepidation and excitement and pulled the letter out.

_Sakura,_

_ I'm right. You're wrong. Stop being stubborn._

_ Sasuke_

_ P.S.: Satoshi is a good boy's name._

Sakura rolled her eyes before she placed her hand on her still flat abdomen and felt the other chakra source radiating from inside of her.

"Satoshi, huh?"

x-x-x-x

END


End file.
